What to do if I was assauled by loss prevention at a store?
Question Details:I walked out of a store with a product that I paid for with the receipt in my hand. I heard a man yell stop and when i turned around there was an employee behind me. He asked to see my receipt so I showed it to him. He said I can't see it so I put it closer to his face. He proceeded to grab the receipt and the hand that it was in. He also with his other hand grabbed for what was in my hand. I told him to let go and that he had no right to put his hands on me. He proceeded to pull me into the store by my hand to the security door. I showed the security officer my receipt, told him what had just happened. I went to put my item in my car and filed a formal complaint with the LP and had a police report filled out. The officer said that the tape was too fuzzy and he could not for sure say that he pulled me but that he did see some "hand wrestling" his words. Can I sue?
In most jurisdictions you can sue for this conduct. Whether it is worth your time and expense to sue is another matter. There are various legal theories under which you could sue, such as false imprisonment (stopping you from leaving qualifies for this is most jurisdictions), invasion of privacy, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and perhaps others.
It sounds like the store does a very poor job of training its employees. I am unsure from your question whether a security employee detained you or another employee detained you, but they should not have behaved as they did. Stores have the right to detain shoplifters but they have to have some reasonable basis to believe you were shoplifting. Since you clearly paid for the item, it does not appear they had that basis. In addition, it sounds like the means they used may be unlawful even if they had a reasonable basis.
You can speak with injury lawyers in your area to see if any would be willing to take action on your behalf. Be prepared to call a number of lawyers as most lawyers have little experience with this kind of claim.
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