More Victims of Macy’s Racial Targeting Come Forward (Stop $upporting White Supremacy)
/From [HERE] and [HERE] Two Latino women are claiming they were racially profiled in separate incidents at two different Macy’s stores in New York City. The allegations come on the heels of a scandal involving claims of racial profiling by employees at major retailers, including Macy’s.
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“They kept her in this holding cell for three hours, and when it was clear that she wasn’t going to confess to shoplifting, which she didn’t do, and she wasn’t going to pay their $500 get-out-of-jail fee, they called the police,” said Herb Subin, an attorney who represents both Paez and Hernandez (below) in their separate legal action against Macy’s. [Black Santa on sale @ Macy's $41.99]
Subin says during the hours Paez spent detained in the Macy’s jail and in the Midtown South Precinct, she had no contact with her 12-year-old son, who was left to wander around Macy’s until the store closed.
“When you go to Macy’s, you check your rights at the door,” attorney Herb Subin said at a news conference Tuesday.
Another similar story has been alleged against a Macy’s in Downtown Brooklyn. In September, Maritza Hernandez was detained on suspicion of shoplifting inside the Macy’s on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. She says the security employees who held her captive used a racial slur, accusing Puerto Ricans of being chronic thieves.
“I didn’t know what to say. I said 'look, I’m not out of the store. I just have two pairs of socks,'” Hernandez said.
Hernandez claims she was holding two pairs of socks as she spoke on her cell phone near the exit when she was thrown against a wall, searched, and then dragged into a Macy’s jail.
“That’s when everybody came and pushed me against the window, dragged me, hitting me,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez claims she was forced to sign a confession and pay a $200 fine. She said she was profiled for being Puerto Rican.
Police were never called to investigate in Hernandez’s case, but the suspected shoplifter says security personnel locked her in a holding cell behind the showroom walls and demanded she pay $200 and sign a confession. Demanding cash fines outside the criminal justice system is a legal practice called “civil recovery.”
“I said 'Yes, I’m going to sign it just to walk out of this place.'”
Macy’s spokesperson Elina Kazan released a statement saying, “Macy’s does not tolerate discrimination of any kind, including racial profiling.”