First Barneys, now Macy’s.
Days after racial profiling allegations against Barneys were made public, actor Rob Brown has filed a similar lawsuit against Macy’s.
Rob Brown is known for his role in “Saving Forrester” opposite Sean Connery, Ashanti’s love interest in “Coach Carter” and his current role in HBO’s “Treme.”
Rob says he was “paraded” through Macy’s Herald Square in handcuffs on June 8th and detained for an hour after being racially profiled and accused of using a fake card to buy his mother a $1,350 watch.
The actor says he’d been shopping at Macy’s to buy a graduation present for his mother who received a degree from Metropolitan Community College.
He settled on a $1,350 silver Movado watch with gold trim and stopped by the Sunglass Hut in the store while he was waiting for it to be cleaned.
He said he planned to buy a pair of $350 Prada shades, but while he was waiting for them to be tightened, he was suddenly swarmed by “at least three” plainclothes officers.
“They kept telling me, ‘Your card is fake. You’re going to jail,’” Rob said.
Rob said he “implored” them to check his ID — and a Macy’s employee did, going through the several pieces of identification he had on him one at a time.
However, the officers continued to tell him the ID “was false and that he could not afford to make such an expensive purchase,” the suit says.
Rob said he was fighting to keep his cool because he was worried he’d miss his mom’s ceremony.
Rob’s lawyer, John Elefterakis, said the store and police realized they’d “made a very bad mistake and an inexcusable one” while going through his bags.
He was released after being in cuffs for about 45 minutes without any charges.
One of the officers drove Rob to the graduation ceremony — but he was late anyway.
“To be late for my mother’s graduation ceremony — that was devastating,” Rob said.
Later that day, Rob, who goes by the Twitter user name Broccoli Rob, tweeted, “Got arrested while buying my ma a watch. Thought my card was fake cuffed me and tossed me in a cell. Then realized they were d—s.”
A spokesperson for Macy’s said in a statement, “We are investigating the alleged claims, as we were just made aware of this lawsuit. We do not comment on matters in litigation.”
Rob said he was inspired to step forward by Trayon Christian, the 19-year-old who first reported filed suit against Barneys last Monday.
“He was brave,” Brown, 29, said. “It’s my duty to follow through.”
I always knew stores racially profiled. I’ve been acutely aware of store attendants watching and following me. However I am slightly surprised that such big name stores are being so reckless with their actions. I’m pleased to see Macy’s got the right one baby.
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