Shopper's bill of rights aims to curb profiling

A host of retail giants are posting a "shopper's bill of rights" in their stores and online to help curb racial profiling. It comes on the heels of several complaints by black customers who say they

News 12 Staff

Dec 10, 2013, 4:45 AM

Updated 3,969 days ago

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A host of retail giants are posting a "shopper's bill of rights" in their stores and online to help curb racial profiling.

It comes on the heels of several complaints by black customers who say they were unfairly targeted while shopping inside of major retail stores.

Back in April, 19-year-old Trayon Christian says he was handcuffed and questioned by police after he bought a $350 designer belt at Barney's in Manhattan. Last month, a Brooklyn couple says Macy's employees wrongly stopped and searched them at the Roosevelt Field Mall location after they bought some items with a gift card.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders met today with retail chains like Barney's, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman to hammer out details of the bill of rights to ensure equality for all shoppers. The agreement states that if employees violate the bill of rights, they will be disciplined and could be fired.

Barbara Borum, from the Hempstead chapter of the NAACP, says it's a step in the right direction. "It's like judging a book by its color," she says. "It happened with Oprah, who can buy the stores." Oprah said earlier this year that a worker at a Swiss store barred her from buying a $38,000 bag because the worker thought she couldn't afford it.

The Macy's location at Roosevelt Field Mall is among the stores that are posting the shopper's bill of rights. Macy's says it does not tolerate discrimination.