A television actor who chose a £800 watch for his mother's university graduation at luxury department store Macy's should have expected top customer service. Instead, he was arrested.
Robert Brown, who was shopping at upmarket Macy's in Manhattan, has now filed a lawsuit against the store, according to the New York Post, for race discrimination.
After paying for the watch, Brown claims he was detained by police at the flagship store about possible credit card fraud, and "paraded while handcuffed" through the store to a holding cell. He eventually was released without charges.
Brown, currently starring in HBO's Treme, told reporters that he believes he was "profiled". Macy's claims it is investigating the incident, which occurred in June.
Macy's is not the first department store this week to be accused of racially profiling its customers. A petition has been launched on Change.org to ask rapper Jay-Z to end his affiliation with New York department store Barneys, after two young black customers, Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips, who are black, were also detained after purchasing expensive items.
When asked about the matter on Friday, the Grammy Award winner wouldn't comment.
Barneys said on Thursday it had retained a civil rights expert to lead a review of its policies and procedures and offered his "sincere regret and deepest apologies."