Macy's faces class-action suit for racial profiling

Macy's East Inc. and its parent company Federated Department Stores Inc., Cincinnati, have been charged with a federal class-action lawsuit claiming the company has targeted African American and other non-white shoppers for shoplifting. The class action seeks declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief for subjecting non-white shoppers to false accusations, wrongful detention, searches and confiscation of personal property based on their race. The key incident in the case occurred just before Christmas in 2002, at the Macy's Herald Square store in New York. An African American woman was approached and detained for an accusation of shoplifting by two plainclothes security guards who ignored her attempts to show the receipts for her purchases. She now seeks $100 million in damages along with class-action status on behalf of other shoppers who believe they were wrongfully discriminated against.