A Texas woman is suing Walmart for false imprisonment and emotional distress, claiming the store detained her for two hours over counterfeit money that wasn’t counterfeit.
Store employees tore up two $100 bills, Julia Garcia contends, then tried to return them to her when a police officer finally confirmed that they were genuine.
Garcia was on a Christmas shopping trip for her children in 2010 when a cashier took her $100 bill, decided it was fake and tore it in half before bothering to check it with a counterfeit detection pen, according to the lawsuit. Even then, after the test showed the bill was real and its metal strip could clearly be seen, a manager came over and destroyed a second $100 bill that Garcia offered.
The manager then made Garcia wait for two hours at the front of the store for police to arrive, in full view of other customers, the suit contends. When an officer finally showed up, he quickly confirmed that the bills were real and made the manager replace her money — but not before the Walmart employee tried to return the already-torn bills instead.
Now, the store has a lawsuit on its hands.
“The legal remedies for false imprisonment are the recovery of actual damages such as physical injuries, medical costs, value of lost, misappropriated or damaged property, if any,” says Christopher L. Davis, a consumer litigation and personal injury attorney near Dallas. “A successful plaintiff in a false imprisonment case can also recover damages for humiliation, shame, fright, mental anguish, as well as exemplary damages, if it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice.”
The plaintiff is seeking less than $74,900.
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