Man Jailed After AI Facial Recognition Wrongly ID’d Him As Robber: Lawsuit

A Texas grandfather said he was wrongfully accused of multiple armed robberies in a lawsuit filed against Macy’s and Sunglass Hut’s parent company last week. The suit claimed their company used AI facial recognition software to incorrectly identify him, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost.

Harvey Murphy Jr., 61, accused Macy’s, Sunglass Hut and parent company EssilorLuxottica of false imprisonment and negligence after he was wrongfully arrested for a robbery he did not commit.

Murphy’s criminal case was dismissed months after he was jailed as a suspect in an armed robbery at a Houston area Sunglass Hut inside a Macy’s store in January 2022, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost.

Houston Police were called to the store following the robbery, where they were met with a representative of EssilorLuxottica, Harvey’s lawsuit states.

The representative said he worked in conjunction with Macy’s loss prevention to identify Murphy as the armed robber through artificial intelligence and facial recognition software.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost, one of the employees at the Sunglass Hut told Houston Police they recognized Murphy as the gunman in previous armed robberies as well.

The lawsuit alleged that employees at EssilorLuxottica had prepped that employee to identify Murphy as the robber when police conducted a photo line-up.

According to Harvey’s lawsuit, he was taken into police custody after visiting a Texas DMV in October that same year to renew his license.

“He had no idea what was going on,” the lawsuit stated. “All he knew was he was being transported to the Harris County Jail because of a felony arrest warrant.”

The lawsuit said that Murphy was sent to an “overcrowded