Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New Jersey
falsely accused of shoplifting
My wife was at a store tonight where she purchased an item and accidentally left a greeting card in the back of her cart. A security checking receipts at the door told her she couldn't take the cart outside. My wife went to leave and the guard asked if the card were hers. My wife then got back on line to pay for it. She decided the line was too long and left the card on top of the candy at the checkout line. The guard so her leaving and told her she had to pay for the card which she no longer had. Meanwhile another guard approached and grabbed her purse and told her to come to the back. My wife refused because she had done nothing wrong and tried explaining it was just an accident to which they replied, ''I hear that all the time'' At this point my wife tells them to let her go or she will call the cops and thats when a manager comes over and realizes whats happening and tells them to let her leave since she DOESNT have the card. I work for a major retailer and know that you can't accuse someone of stealing until they've crossed the lease line. Also she never tried to steal anything it was only an accident. They also attempted to illegally detain her. please help
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: falsely accused of shoplifting
as you may already know, there is a rule called a "merchants privilege" which allows a merchant to detain a shopper to ascertain whether she has paid for merchandise before leaving his/her store. In your wife's case, the store manager intervened and prevented an obvious mistake. Accordingly, your wife's inconvenience would be considered di minimas - that is too small for a court.
On the other hand, she may have a claim for battery -an unwanted and un-welcomed intentional touching against the guard and the store given that they knew she did not have the cards on her person yet they deliberately sought to cause her an intentional physical harm. If you have the $$$$ go see a hungry lawyer.
Re: falsely accused of shoplifting
This is just a practical opinion. I may not be familiar with the law of the state where the incident occured. But the general law on torts and damages dictates that you have a cause of action to sue for damages against the establishment because of the moral damages suffered by your wife as a result of the unwarranted, oppressive and malevolent acts of the establishment's employees.They should have observed good faith and respect in calling the attention of your wife regarding the alleged incident.
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