Black Couple Sues Barneys For Racial Discrimination

Black Couple Sues Barneys For Racial Discrimination

An African-American couple is suing Barneys claiming the high-end retailer gave them a hard time for simply returning some items to the store reports NY Daily News.

Conrad Barton and Geneva Gordon claim they visited a Barneys store in Chelsea last October to return jeans and a scarf when all hell broke loose:

Barton paid $1,045 for the jeans and $321 for the scarf on Sept. 11, according to the suit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

A clerk told him to wait, Barton said. Fifteen minutes later, a man who claimed to be a store manager came out and demanded that he produce identification, the suit said. Barton argued that he didn’t need ID, court docs said.

The man talking to him said he was the manager — but he turned out to be a loss prevention officer, the suit said. The officer refused to give back the clothes or Barton’s debit card, court papers said.

Why would they send out a loss prevention officer to resolve the return?

“You’re being stereotyped when you are just following a regular store procedure,” said Barton, who works in transportation operations. “It shouldn’t have went down that route.”

“I feel the whole situation was very disheartening and embarrassing and unnecessary,” Gordon said.

Barton and Gordon hired an attorney, who contacted Barneys lawyer Grace Fu. She initially assured him they were investigating, but then stopped communicating, the suit said. Barton and Gordon decided to sue the company.