D falsely accused P of stealing a watch. P was approached by the asst manager who took her to the manager's office under the guise of giving her a tour of the store.
P denied stealing the watch and took a lie detector test that confirmed.
P sued D for false imprisonment.
Procedural History:
Trial court found for D since P was not retained against her will.
MT affirmed, found for D.
Issues:
Can a party maintain an action in false imprisonment when no threat of force was used to compel that party to stay against his will?
Holding/Rule:
A party cannot maintain an action in false imprisonment when no threat of force was used to compel that party to stay against his will.
Reasoning:
Although P testified that she felt compelled to stay, she testified that she also wanted to stay to clarity the matter.
P was never told that she could not leave.
P testified that she would have followed the asst manager into the office voluntarily had she known the true purpose of the meeting.
Dissent:
None.
Notes:
In order to prove false imprisonment, the P must prove that he was under restraint to stay against his will and that he had not reasonable means of escape.
A mere obligation to stay, or other mental compulsion, such as fear of losing one's job will not be enough of a restraint to qualify as false imprisonment.
Restraint may come in many forms…
Physical force
Threat of physical force
Restraint of certain objects belonging to party (purse)
False imprisonment is like assault in that threats of future action are not enough.
