A star of HBO’s “Treme” has settled federal lawsuits against Macy’s and the city over claims he was handcuffed by cops at the flagship department store because he is black.
Rob Brown of Brooklyn, who also starred with Sean Connery in 2000’s “Finding Forrester,” filed the suits in November last year, claiming he was unlawfully detained at the store in June while buying his mom a fancy $1,300 Movado watch as a graduation present.
Brown claimed that after he bought the timepiece at the 34th Street flagship and went looking to buy a pair of sunglasses, he was stopped in the middle of the store by three white men who he believed were NYPD cops.
He said the men began to “publicly and falsely” accuse him of committing credit card fraud.
He also said he was then cuffed and paraded around the store “like an already convicted common criminal.”
Brown said he was thrown into a holding cell and berated for an hour. When cops realized who he was, Brown says, he was released. Brown also claimed cops then tried to whitewash the situation by offering to give him a police escort to his mom’s graduation.
“The Court has been informed that the parties have reached a settlement in principle in this case,” Manhattan federal Judge Lorna Schofield wrote in two identical orders filed on Thursday.
“Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that this action is dismissed without costs and without prejudice to restoring the action to the Court’s calendar.”
A city Law Department spokesman said, “A settlement has been reached in principle, but the details are still being finalized.”
A Macy’s spokesman said, ”The lawsuits by various plaintiffs who alleged racial profiling by Macy’s have been settled in principle. We are making no further comment. Our company strictly prohibits discrimination of any kind and has zero tolerance for racial profiling.”