(AP) When a black shopper who had just bought a birthday gift for her grandson headed for the door of a Toys "R" Us store, a security guard asked to see a receipt for the item. But a white shopper who had just left the same store didn't face the same scrutiny, according to a multimillion-dollar discrimination lawsuit against the toy store giant.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, accuses Toys "R" Us of singling out black customers in a pattern of race-based stops, searches and wrongful detentions. It seeks class action status, $400 million in damages and a court order to end discrimination.

The lawsuit says policies put in place by the toy retailer subjected blacks to unjustified and unwarranted scrutiny, causing a disproportionate number of black customers to be assaulted, battered, surveilled, stopped, seized and searched without just cause.

Toys "R" Us called the allegations "entirely ridiculous."

"Toys 'R' Us respects all of the families who shop with us, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind," it said in a statement. "We look forward to demonstrating that these allegations are nonsense."

Toys "R" Us Inc., based in Wayne, N.J., is one of the leading retailers of toys and baby products, with more than 1,500 freestanding specialty stores worldwide, according to its Web site.

The lawsuit says black customers are subjected to compulsory inspection of their sales receipts after they buy merchandise and try to leave the stores, while white shoppers are not subjected to the same "heightened and biased" scrutiny.

"These unconstitutional and illegal acts degrade, humiliate and cause grave harm to blacks," the lawsuit says.

It says undercover operatives, security guards and employees in the stores routinely surround black shoppers in front of friends, relatives or neighbors.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Patricia Drayton, who says she was stopped by a security guard as she left a Toys "R" Us store in the Bronx on July 10, 2006, with her three grandchildren and their mother. The inspection occurred just after she had bought a $63.95 birthday present for her grandson, the lawsuit says.

When Drayton, who is black, refused to show her receipt, the security guard made her wait for 15 to 20 minutes while she tried to reach a supervisor for instructions, the lawsuit says. Drayton was then released.

Outside the store, a white man told Drayton he was angry at how she was treated because he was not asked to present his receipt when he left the store, the lawsuit says.

By Larry Neumeister © MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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