Lord & Taylor Accused Of Racial Discrimination, Settles With AG

NATICK, MA—A retail giant based in Massachusetts has settled with the attorney general's office over allegations of racial discrimination.

Lord & Taylor plans to hire an expert consultant to review and improve its shoplifting prevention policies and procedures, train its staff, and pay $100,000 to resolve an investigation into racial discrimination, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

The settlement is the result of an investigation with the AG's office into the company's loss prevention practices and policies, which cover all four of Massachusetts' locations: Natick, Boston, Braintree and Burlington.

The investigation was prompted by a concern that was brought up about the company's efforts to prevent shoplifting, and that the effort "perpetuated a climate of racial and ethnic bias resulting in, among other things, the disproportionate targeting of black and Hispanic customers for surveillance and apprehension."

The attorney general said that Lord & Taylor fully cooperated during its investigation and is agreeing to proactively address these issues.

“Following our investigation, Lord & Taylor has agreed to take meaningful steps to improve its policies and procedures to prevent racial profiling of customers—we hope others will do the same,” said AG Healey in a statement. “Far too often, shoppers are unfairly viewed as suspicious or not belonging, simply because of their race or ethnicity. This takes a toll on individuals and broader communities, even when it is the result of unconscious bias, and it is our collective responsibility to address it.”

Lord & Taylor in the settlement agreed to hire an outside consultant who specializes in addressing unconscious or implicit bias in the retail industry, to conduct a thorough review of its existing shoplifting prevention policies and work with the company to make improvements, including a specific policy to prevent racial bias in the stores’ shoplifting prevention activities.

The company is also providing annual bias training to all of its employees who deal with costumers in its Massachusetts stores. Lord & Taylor also agreed to implement a Customer Bill of Rights to provide resources and information for customers, and will pay the Commonwealth $100,000 to fund programs intended to combat racial discrimination.

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