Mark Lee: Barneys Staff Not Guilty of Racial Profiling

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At a press conference at the Harlem headquarters of the National Action Network, Barneys New York CEO Mark Lee said that store employees were not responsible for the two instances of racial profiling recently brought to media attention by Queens teen Trayon Christian and Brooklyn resident Kayla Phillips.

Lee explains: "Our preliminary investigation concluded that in both of these instances, no one from Barneys New York raised an issue with the purchases, brought them to the attention of internal security or reached out to the authorities." Both Christian and Phillips were stopped outside of the stores by police, and allegedly asked how they could have afforded to make such expensive purchases.

During the conference, Lee also assured that the department store's collaboration with Jay Z will go on as planned, despite a Change.org petition calling for the rapper to severe his ties with Barneys in response to the scandals.
· Mark Lee Says Barneys' Personnel Not Responsible for 'Shop and Frisk' Accusation [WWD]
· Barneys CEO Mark Lee to Meet With Brooklyn Civil Rights Group [Racked NY]
· Brooklyn Woman Claims Barneys Also Racially Profiled Her [Racked NY]
· Updated: Queens Teen Slaps Barneys With Discrimination Suit [Racked NY]