You work at a local electronics store, Electronics Warehouse. While you are work

Question

You work at a local electronics store, Electronics Warehouse. While you are working you spot a customer who appears to place something into their backpack (which you think is an item they haven't paid for). Before they exit the store you yell "STOP THAT THIEF" and another employee tackles the customer at the exit. When the customer is tackled he injures his knee and is spotted by his current boss. You and the employee escort the customer back to the security office and rummage through his backpack, but unfortunately you don't find any evidence that something was stolen, so you release the customer and apologize for the mix-up. The next day the customer returns to his job and his fired for being "a thief" by his boss who witnessed the events at the electronics store the day before.

a. Explain in detail what tort theories the customer can sue the Electronics Warehouse. Would he be successful?

b. Can you or the other employee be sued for a tort? If so, what tort(s)?

c. What defenses would the Electronics Warehouse raise? Would they be successful?

Explanation / Answer

a. Yes, the customer can definitely sue against the Electronics warehouse. The customer has been held responsible to be a thief in front of all the public present in the store. The customer has badly lost his reputation.

He can be successful as without coming to any conclusion the employee commented the term thief to him which was a serious misconduct and offense on the part of losing or damaging self-respect to the side of the customer. The employee should not have used those words without judging him properly.

b. Yes, as the word thief has pronounced to indicate the customer without investigating the matter, should be sued and the other employees may not face as they have only stopped the person to run away from the store.

It has created a big harm for the customer who has lost his job because the matter has taken place in front of his boss who was also present inside the store. With the illegal approach, the customer has wrongly held responsible as a thief without any investigation. The employee and the electronic store can heavily face the legal proceedings; they can be sued for the major loss for the customer.

c. The Electronic Warehouse can say in their defense statement that they have apologized to the customer for the mix-up that had taken place. They can say that on the part of the security measures and protecting their stores from any wrongful approach they have taken such steps.

No, they cannot be successful because they can simply stop the customer before he exit from the store. As his boss was present inside the store, the customer has also lost his job as being a thief his boss has not allowed to work anymore in their office. This is a serious issue which has created damage and a loss both by financially and personally for the customer.

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