Luxury clothing retailer Barneys agreed to pay $525,000 penalties to settle accusations of racial profiling after minorities complained that they were singled out as possible shoplifters last year.

Several complaints of racial profiling against the major retailer in 2013 has triggered intervention from authorities. According to authorities, Barneys costumers protested about detectives following them around the store even after store staff identified them as regular patrons of the store.

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New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman explained that some sales people tended to avoid serving them to prevent calls from investigators as he announced the settlement made on Monday.

"This agreement will correct a number of wrongs, both by fixing past policies and by monitoring the actions of Barneys and its employees to make sure that past mistakes are not repeated," he said in a statement.

Mark Lee, Barneys CEO, expressed their delight in a statement as the company aims to provide "unparalleled customer experience" to those who patronize their brand.

Probe were launched after two Barneys shoppers, both of whom are black, filed lawsuits against the company when they were allegedly singled out as shoplifters because of their race.

One of the complainants, Trayton Christian, explained how ununiformed officers had asked him "how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt" after he purchased a 349-dollar Ferragamo belt in April 2013.

Kayla Phillips, another complainant, filed a lawsuit against the retail store after she was taken into custody for buying a 2500-dollar-worth of Céline bag.

Similar incidents involving other retailers, such as Macy's, was also reported last year where actor Rob Brown filed a complaint for racial profiling. The two parties had reached a settlement after Macy's paid $600,000 for fines and penalties.

Barneys, Macy's, and other major clothing retailers have conceded in creating a customer bill of rights to avoid similar incidents to happen again.

TagsBarneys, Macy's, racial profiling, discrimination