Barneys and New York City have both agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by Trayon Christian, the 21-year-old who was racially profiled while shopping in 2013.
The college student was detained by two NYPD officers after employees at Barneys believed that Christian purchased a $350 Ferragamo belt on a fraudulent credit card. Christian was taken to a local station and was not released until after the police called Chase bank to confirm that he had used his own debit card.
The retailer claimed that its employees never alerted the police, but following the incident Christian filed a suit against the city and Barneys for violating his civil rights.
According to Reuters, the city has agreed to pay Christian $45,000. "Settling was in the best interest of the city," said a spokesperson for the city's law department. The amount of the settlement with Barneys has not been disclosed.
After the case other victims and employees came forward, revealing a troubling practice that targeted black and Latino shoppers at Barneys flagship on Madison Avenue. As a result, the retailer dished out a $525,000 fine in 2014 and agreed to invest in an anti-profiling consultant and to retrain its employees.
