Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Utah

What are my rights?

The other night my wife and I went to a grocery store. She presented her debit card for payment. Her card came up FRAUD in the system. She checked with her bank and they showed no such comment in there system. My wife asked for her card back. The store manager asked for her ID. she had forgotten to bring it so I used my debit card and paid for the purchases. We drove home for the ID. When we returned a few minutes later with the ID The store manager said to wait and they would be with us. 10 minutes later the police arrived. My wife handed the officer her ID. He then told her to turn around. He handcuffed her in the middle of the store. They checked her ID and confirmed that she was the rightfull owner of the card. The store (cop) then proceeded to tell her of the store policies concerning fraudulent cards all the time she still remainded handcuffed. There was NO apology given by either the police or the store employees for THERE errors, We both felt humilitiated, embarrased among many other feelings.

What is the best way to proceed?


Asked on 8/23/04, 1:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alvin Lundgren Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.

Re: What are my rights?

A store may have reasonable policies to detain persons suspected of fraud or theft. The middle of the store is not such a place. You can sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress, false arrest, and slander (handcuffing in the public area - publishes an allegation of a bad act to the public). Whether or not you are entitled to damages is based on whether a judge/jury is convinced that the store behavior was outrageous. Your damages are based on you actual damages (real costs for medical or mental health care) plus punitives if the store was negligent.

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Answered on 8/23/04, 1:59 pm


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