Legal Question in Health Care Law in New Jersey

My daughter was stopped yesterday at Lord and

Taylors as we were walking out the door. The security man accused her of intentional walking out with a $30 bracelet. I go angry because I know she was unaware that she still had the bracelet on. I was not with her when she tried on the bracelet, but I know she had put several items on hold and then discussed with me the possibility of my mother buying her those items(including jeans) because she was applying for jobs and she needed to look well groomed. As a matter of fact we were at this store because she had just applied for a sales position.

The man then took us downstairs and I continued to be agitated because I know my daughter would not take the item in question. I was trying to vouch for her. She told me to calm down and her demeanor told me that she was going to work it out. Almost an hour later she came out with the security man. She had emptied the contents of her purse to show him that she had no unpaid merchandise. He saw a prescription bottle and talk the information off the bottle onto his work sheet. He told my daughter he needed to know what she was taking in case she needed a dose while there. He adjudicated the matter with a $150 fine and asked her to sign a statement that she intentionally walked out with the bracelet. She would not, but did sign a paper saying that she walked out of the store with the bracelet without paying for it. He told her besides the fine, she could not walk into a Lord and Taylor store for the next 2 years.

Can a store impose a fine? I thought just a government entity can do that?

Did he have the right to invade her medical privacy. A doctor can lose his license if he did that.


Asked on 10/27/10, 9:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Mincis Jonathan J. Mincis, Esq. Law Offices

Was your daughter charged with shoplifting? A store can seek the payment of a $150.00 civil penalty based on a civil statute which allows them to seek the payment of such a fine where someone (allegedly) tried to steal merchandise from their store. The fine is usually imposed after the person goes to Court and either pleads guilty or is found guilty of the charge, but stores have used collection attorneys or agencies to try and collect such a fine even before the case is heard in Court. It sounds to me like the store security officer had your daughter sign an admission or confession that she attempted to take the item without paying for it. You should never sign anything without speaking to a lawyer. Again, has she been charged with shoplifting or was there some other arrangement reached where your daughter acknowledged (not necessarily intentionally) that she attempted to take the item and based on this she has been baned from the store? If she is being charged with shoplifting it would pay to obtain the assistance of a lawyer.

If the store security officer had reasonable grounds to detain a suspected (alleged) shoplifter, they would have reasonable ground to ask about existing medical conditions and if the person is on any medication. This is to protect themselves from liability. If a person has a heart condition for example and suffers a heart attack because store security refused to allow the person to take their medication while in their custody, the store would have a serious problem on its' hands, such an inquiry is reasonable. Under these circumstances what the store did was legal.

Please feel free to call with any other questions. (201)-894-9498

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Answered on 11/02/10, 10:59 am


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