Though it has been several months since Sharon Simmons-Thomas was anywhere near Macy’s department store in Midtown Manhattan, she still seemed a bit harried recalling an incident there.

''It’s hard to put in words what happened to me,'' she began, holding back tears that would flow after the press conference Tuesday afternoon in front of the store.

Last December, a few days before Christmas, Simmons-Thomas stopped in Macy’s to do a little quick shopping. When leaving the store she was apprehended by two plainclothes security guards. ''They wouldn’t say who they were, but they accused me of shoplifting,'' she said.

The guards refused to look at the receipts Simmons-Thomas waved in their faces. She was handcuffed, paraded in front of other customers and then escorted to the store’s detention cells.

''I have never been so embarrassed in my life,'' she continued.

In the detention cells were several other customers being held as suspected shoplifters, all of them people of color. ''They ran a background check on me and discovered I didn’t have a criminal record,'' said Simmons-Thomas, a 40-year-old single mother and resident of the Bronx. A further computer search also came up empty. Three hours later, after being humiliated by a body search, threatened with physical force and an attempt by the guards to coerce a false confession, she was freed – but without her gifts.

''Today is the first time I’ve been back to Macy’s since the incident,'' Simmons-Thomas exhaled, ''and it used to be my favorite store.''

With the aid of the Thompson Wigdor &Gilly LLP law firm, Simmons-Thomas filed a class action lawsuit against Macy’s East Inc. and its parent company, Federated Department Stores Inc. ''African-Americans and other minorities have long known that Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and other Federated stores target them as potential shoplifters,'' said attorney Kenneth Thompson. ''But the time has come, and we welcome all others who have experienced similar discrimination to join us in this fight for equal respect from Macy’s.''

The 30-page lawsuit of 12 counts, with a demand for a jury trial, was filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York against Federated, ''for engaging in, fostering and/or condoning a pattern and practice of ‘racial profiling’ or targeting African-American and other non-white shoppers for suspicion of shoplifting, subjecting such to false accusations of shoplifting, wrongful and unjustified detentions, searches, false imprisonment and/or other harassment based on their race and/or color, and wrongfully confiscating their personal property,'' according to the brief.

Thompson, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the police officers responsible for violating Abner Louima’s civil rights, said that his firm talked to several other possible plaintiffs in the lawsuit. ''And I’m sure there are many others out there who have been intimidated and afraid to discuss their incidents at the store,'' he said.

''We are seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages,'' Thompson said. ''Federated and others must be taught they can’t continue to violate people’s civil rights and falsely accuse them of shoplifting. This has got to stop.''

Reached at her office in Cincinnati, headquarters of Federated, Vice President of Public Relations Ronnie Taffet said the company cannot comment on the specifics of the lawsuit since it had yet to see the paperwork. Moreover, the statement from Federated noted that the company does not comment on pending litigation.

''Macy’s does not profile, target or discriminate against any minority group or individual,'' Taffet said in her statement. ''We will not condone discrimination in any form, and Macy’s anti-discrimination policy prohibits any customer or groups of customers being singled out in any way for special attention or treatment.''

Federated owns and operates approximately 456 retail stores throughout the continental United States, including New York. There are more than 100 Macy’s stores on the East Coast.

Thompson said he had already begun to hear from people who were wrongly arrested or prosecuted on criminal charges after shopping at Macy’s. ''Our client’s civil rights were violated, and her presumption of innocence was ignored,'' he added.

''They [the security guards] couldn’t believe a Black woman didn’t have a criminal record,'' Simmons-Thomas said, practically sobbing as the press conference concluded. ''I don’t think they could get away with doing this to a white woman.''