Henry v. Shopper's World

• Decision Date: 18 March 1985
• Citation: 490 A.2d 320,200 N.J.Super. 14
• Parties: Brenda HENRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SHOPPER'S WORLD, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 14

200 N.J.Super. 14

490 A.2d 320

Brenda HENRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SHOPPER'S WORLD, Defendant-Respondent.

Superior Court of New Jersey,

Appellate Division.

Submitted Feb. 19, 1985.

Decided March 18, 1985.

Isabelle R. Strauss, East Orange, for plaintiff-appellant.

Fischer, Kagan, Ascione & Zaretsky, Clifton, for defendant-respondent (Allen Susser, Clifton, on brief).

Before Judges MORTON I. GREENBERG and GAYNOR.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff appeals from a summary judgment dismissing her complaint for false imprisonment and defamation arising from a suspected shoplifting incident. She contends the court erred in finding that defendant had probable cause for detaining plaintiff and concluding there were no factual issues concerning the reasonableness of the detention precluding a summary disposition of the complaint. We disagree and affirm.

The circumstances surrounding the incident giving rise to this action are not in dispute. On December 23, 1981 plaintiff was a customer in defendant's store. A security guard observed her in the ladies department looking at clothes and taking some off the racks for a closer inspection, but not trying them on. While observing plaintiff, the guard noticed that she was wearing a coat with a tag fastened to its back. When he saw her leaving the store without making any payment for the coat, he stopped her outside the store and asked her to return and show that she had purchased the coat. Plaintiff accompanied the guard to a room in the rear of the store and was then questioned by the guard and the store manager. Plaintiff explained that she had purchased the coat the preceding day at defendant's store and apparently had failed to remove all of the tags. The tag on the coat was a "fact" tag indicating size, or inspection, or garment content. Testimony differs as to whether the receipt for the coat was available, with the manager indicating that plaintiff said it was at home and could be produced, and plaintiff stating that she told the manager the receipt had been thrown away as she was satisfied with the fit of the coat. After about 30-45 minutes, plaintiff was permitted to leave. During the period of questioning plaintiff had telephoned her sister who met her outside the store. The two women then returned to discuss the matter further with the store personnel.

Plaintiff claims, as she was not hiding or otherwise concealing the coat, defendant's employee could not have possessed probable cause to believe that plaintiff was willfully concealing unpurchased merchandise. Accordingly, she argues defendant is not entitled to the immunity granted to merchants by N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11(e). Additionally, it is contended that the reasonableness of the detention presented a factual issue precluding a summary disposition of the matter. Plaintiff also asserts the court's resolution of the issue of reasonableness was clouded with partiality.

Defendant's position is that, under the circumstances, it had probable cause to detain the plaintiff as a suspected shoplifter and that the period of detention was reasonable, thereby entitling it to the statutory immunity from civil liability provided by N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11(e). It further claims there were no genuine issues of material facts and the issues were properly decided by the court in a summary manner.

As indicated, this case involves the interpretation and application of N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11(e), which states:

A law enforcement officer, or a special officer, or a merchant, who has probable cause for believing that a person has willfully concealed unpurchased merchandise and that he can recover the merchandise by taking the person into custody, may, for the purpose of attempting to effect recovery thereof, take the person into custody and detain him in a reasonable manner for not more than a reasonable time, and the taking into custody by a law enforcement officer or special officer or merchant shall not render such person criminally or civilly liable in any manner or to any extent whatsoever.

Because of the seriousness of the shoplifting problem, this court has concluded that such a statute must be construed in a manner reasonably calculated to carry out its objective of protecting the merchant from shoplifting and safeguarding the innocent customer. Cooke v. J.J. Newberry & Co., 96 N.J.Super. 9, 18, 232 A.2d 425 (App.Div.1967). It is well known that the losses due to shoplifting, and the expense incurred in protecting against it, constitute a major cost in the...