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U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield dismissed the case on
Wednesday, citing a settlement in principle between the parties,
court records showed.
Neither Macy's nor the city would provide further information on
Thursday as details had not been finalized.
Brown sued the department store and the city in November, saying
that after purchasing a $1,300 gold Movado watch for his mother
as a graduation present last June, he was detained and
handcuffed by three men he believed to be police officers.
The controversy surrounding his arrest and those of other black
shoppers with similar complaints last year sparked debate about
racial stereotyping and prejudice.
The practice was coined "shop and frisk" in a twist on the
controversial policing practice of "stop and frisk."
Macy's said it would also be settling other lawsuits alleging
racial profiling. At a hearing on Monday in Brown’s case, a
lawyer for the company said there were two cases pending in
state court and a third in federal court.
"Our company strictly prohibits discrimination of any kind and
has zero tolerance for racial profiling," Macy's said in a
statement.
Brown alleged in his complaint that the men, who he believed
were working at the request of Macy's staff, accused him of
committing credit card fraud and paraded him through the store
before placing him in a detainment cell where they mocked him
for roughly an hour.
When they learned he was a well-known actor, they changed their
tune and offered to provide him a police escort to his mother's
college graduation, the complaint said.
The state attorney general launched an investigation into
security practices at Macy's and Barneys, another retailer where
black shoppers lodged similar complaints.
Brown sued for false imprisonment, assault and battery,
negligent hiring and civil rights violations and was seeking
unspecified money damages.
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