The New York department store Barneys New York was accused of racially profiling black and Hispanic customers almost a year ago. About two weeks ago, Barneys New York gave out more than half a million dollars in a racial profiling settlement.

After almost a year long investigation and litigation, a settlement was reached between the State Attorney General's office and Barneys New York. Barneys New York agreed to pay $525,000 after a civil rights review.

The store has also agreed to pay fines and legal expenses related to the profiling allegations. In addition, they have agreed to hire an "anti-profiling consultant" for two years, modernize their detention policy and enhance the training of security and sales personnel.

Rhe 27-page settlement document asserts that Barneys did purposefully target minorities entering their Madison Avenue store, the New York Daily News reported.

The State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his investigators heard from customers and former employees that a pattern of racial profiling began last year.

The upscale chain claimed at the time, that was their way to halt the dramatic increase in shoplifting and credit card fraud. The complainants told Schneiderman's civil rights division that the store's security team, the "loss prevention unit," had a habit of specifically eyeballing shoppers who were black and Hispanic.

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

The settlement document -- which had over a dozen complainants -- also mentioned the "shop-and-frisk case" of shoppers and former employees. Barneys New York's own data indicated that from October 2012- October 2013, black and Hispanic shoppers were confined at "rates far greater than their percentage of the store's customer base," the New York Daily News reported.

The whole case started from two young black shoppers. Trayon Christian, 19, and Kayla Phillips, 21, were the catalysts. Christian filed a lawsuit against New York City and the upscale department chain in the State Supreme Court. He had purchased a Salvatore Ferragamo belt with his debit card, then was chased and accused of stealing said item, The New York Times reported.

Christian was stopped several blocks away from the store on Fifth Avenue by plainclothes policemen. The officers then proceeded to question Christian about how he was able to pay for the $350 belt. The officers also accused Christian of having a fake debit card. Christian was then handcuffed and taken to the 19th Precinct station house and was held for almost two hours before he was freed.

Phillips described her situation as "stopped, frisked, searched and detained." She was detained by the police at Barneys after she bought a handbag worth more than $2,000.

While Barneys New York conducted their study form October 2012 to October 2013, the problems perhaps started as early as March 2013 when the department store giant hired a new security firm. Within the months that followed, the door guards had "exclusively identified minority customers as warranting surveillance," the complainants told the attorney general.

The so-called "in-store detectives" regularly followed minority customers even after the sales associates told them that the customers were frequent patrons.

Barneys New York allegations were made public last year. As a result, it raised concerns about other department stores across the country. Some retailers posted a customer's Bill of Rights in their stores.

"Profiling is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated," the Bill of Rights document reads.

It was posted in stores such as Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue.

"Employees who violate the company's prohibition on profiling will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment," it continues.

"We are a truly progressive company that has absolutely no tolerance for discrimination of any kind," Mark Lee said, the chief executive officer of Barneys, said.

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