My question involves defamation in the state of: South Carolina
** Please note: If I have posted my question in the wrong section of this forum, please accept my sincere apologies and kindly let me know where to properly post my question/issue. (I am brand new to this forum.)**
My 4 young children (ages 2-12) and I recently decided to go into our local Walgreens store. When we first walked into the store, I placed my two year old daughter into the top portion of one of the shopping carts, secured her in the seat, then placed my diaper bag into the bottom portion of the cart. (**Due to the large size of my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, and the VERY small capacity/size of Walgreen shopping carts, my diaper bag literally took up the ENTIRE bottom portion of the shopping cart.**)
After getting “settled” and ready to shop, we (the kids and I) proceeded down the first aisle, which is part of the make-up/beauty section of the store. I initially looked at the hair styling products, such as pony tail holders, headbands, hair clips, etc. I picked up a 4 or 5 piece set of headbands I thought I may want to ultimately purchase and laid them in the bottom of the cart beside my diaper bag. I proceeded to move towards the false eyelash section and began looking at the available products in that section. After 5 or so minutes of trying to make up my mind, I settled on 3 pair that I was considering purchasing and I also laid those in my cart. After we finished shopping in that particular area, we ventured up the hair care aisle, where I stood for several minutes trying to decide if I wanted to purchase and try a new brand of argan oil hair care products…..I even stood at the end of the aisle for 5 minutes or longer with my iPhone in hand reading online reviews, etc., on the particular products I was considering purchasing! I placed one of the items in the cart in the seat beside my two year daughter because I definitely was unsure if I wanted to spend $30+ on this particular hair care product.
At any rate, we continued on with our shopping trip for at least 30-45 minutes, looking at and picking up various items throughout the store. At one point, I even shopped the “natural” section of the store and took several minutes to ultimately pick out a pink shade of Burts Bee lip gloss that happened to be on clearance. Once I decided on that particular item, I handed it to my 2 year old to hold (she likes to “help” during shopping trips), but I quickly took it from her because she had been able to remove its top and I knew that was a disaster waiting to happen! I tossed it into the shopping cart upon taking it from her. That’s when I decided I did NOT want to purchase the $30+ argan oil hair care product, so I removed the item from beside my daughter in the cart, walked away from the Burts Bee lip gloss section, placed the item back it its respective place on the shelf, walked back to my cart and continued shopping.
After a while, I began to notice one particular employee happened to be on EVERY aisle my children and I walked down. Twice, when she walked past our shopping cart, she clearly made it a point to deliberately look down into our shopping cart. It was so obvious, there was absolutely NO mistaking her behavior for anything else! Between the employee following us for 10-15 minutes and then deliberately peering into our cart and my diaper bag, I became angered, so I told my children we were done shopping there, and I began to sort through the items we had placed in my cart throughout the time we had been in the store. My oldest son picked up a Doc McStuffins toy my 2 year old had been playing with and walked away to return it to the shelf. As I looked up to watch him walk towards the toy aisle, low and behold, the intrusive employee is standing directly beside me AGAIN! I continued to ignore her presence and handed my 7 year old daughter some lip balm I asked her to return to its proper place. The particular employee who had been watching us as well as another employee who was standing beside her clearly witnessed me tell my daughter to go put the lip balm back while I returned the eyelashes to the shelf. I walked away from where the employee was standing and put the 3 false eyelash packs back onto their proper “hooks” then placed the headbands on its respective peg all while she stood and watched.
We then headed to the register to pay for 3 packs of gum and one tube of lip gloss. While completing the transaction, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the above-mentioned employee quickly walk out the front door of the store. After the cashier rang up the items, she strangely asked me if I wanted my items to be placed into a bag and if I wanted my transaction receipt. I laughed at her and said, “Of course I want my items in a bag, and why wouldn’t I want my purchase receipt?!” And at this moment, the automatic door at the front of the store shifted open and I clearly heard a woman say, “She’s wearing a black shirt….getting ready to come out……” (The shirt I was wearing that evening was a dark heather gray & could have easily been mistaken to be black.) Then I hear a short spurt from a police siren outside the building. As soon as my 4 children and I walked out of the door of Walgreens, we encountered a police officer, who was parked directly in front of the door. He looked at the store employee and asked, “Is this her?” After she answered “yes”, he told me to step over to his vehicle and demanded I hand my 2 year old toddler to one of my other children (oldest being just 12 years old) and then told me to place my possessions on the hood of his vehicle. I asked him several times what the problem was and what was going on, and each time, the officer completely ignored my questions and continued with his commands. I eventually complied and that’s when he proceeded to tell me that they had received a call about a shoplifter and I was the person that was being accused of shoplifting. I had my Walgreens and my RECEIPT in my hand when I walked out the door and had just laid it on the hood of his vehicle. I told him I hadn’t stolen anything and I pointed to the bag of items I had just paid for. And of course, the first question he asked was, “Do you have a receipt for these items?” I found it VERY ironic that the cashier had JUST asked me if I wanted a bag and a receipt for the items I was purchasing. Anyway, I told him of course I did, so he picked up the bag and began comparing the items inside the bag with what was printed on the receipt. And every single item I had in my bag was on the receipt. At this point, the store employee pulled some plastic bag from her pocket and accused me of stealing the $2.99 toy/item that was missing from the packaging. I suggested and ultimately, all but begged the officer to review the store’s surveillance tapes to corroborate what I was telling him. The officer asked the employee if she would allow him to view the tapes and show him when and where I allegedly opened the packaging and removed the item, but she told him it wasn’t possible because, in her exact words, "they won't show anything because of her various angles throughout the store......" She then stood in the parking lot, loudly proclaiming to this officer that I had multiple items stashed INSIDE my diaper bag when she walked by the shopping cart and she told the officer that she witnessed me attempt to conceal these items with my wallet when I saw her walking by. My wallet is the size of a checkbook - NOT too much concealing happening with something that size! I immediately told the officer of the items I had placed beside my diaper bag and explained that they were placed on top/side of my diaper bag because of the limited space within the cart and the large size of my bag, told him I had placed ALL of the items from my shopping cart back on the respective shelves before paying for the 4 items I had in the plastic shopping bag, and again told him there were cameras all through the store and that the surveillance tapes would easily verify what I was telling him. The employee continued to deny this officer access to view the cameras and kept demanding he search my diaper bag. I knew I had nothing to hide, so when the officer asked if he could search my diaper bag, I consented. He found absolutely NOTHING -- there was NO stolen merchandise in my diaper bag/in my possession, including the "toy" she accused me of removing from the packaging. But the employee was adamant about having something done to me, so when he told her the only thing he could do was issue a notice of trespass to me.
I was utterly mortified throughout this entire ordeal. The incident took place directly in front of the entrance/exit doors of the store, so EVERY patron coming and going witnessed what was happening and could audibly hear the store employee yelling that I was a thief and that I was in "her" store stealing "all kinds of stuff ". Not to mention, my 4 children were TERRIFIED. My oldest child was so scared that he managed to use his cell phone while I was being questioned and searched to call my husband (his dad) and begged him to please come up to the store because he was scared. Not only did they have to witness a police officer searching their mom and her personal belongings, they had to endure 40 degree temperatures outside for at least 30 minutes!
I honestly care less about the trespass notice. Even had it not been issued, I would never step foot back into that store and spend another penny there! I truly believe I was slandered and defamed. Countless customers watched what was happening! There is no doubt regarding their ability to hear the employee's yelling and accusations. But most of all, I am extremely angered by the emotional and mental trauma my children were subjected to. I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through their little minds when all of this was happening! I don’t know WHAT can be done, but I definitely want SOMETHING done if I have a case against this employee and her employer!!
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my long-winded story.....I wanted to be sure to explain, in great detail, exactly what happened so I can get the most accurate advice possible. And I thank you, in advance, for your help in this matter.
** Please note: If I have posted my question in the wrong section of this forum, please accept my sincere apologies and kindly let me know where to properly post my question/issue. (I am brand new to this forum.)**
My 4 young children (ages 2-12) and I recently decided to go into our local Walgreens store. When we first walked into the store, I placed my two year old daughter into the top portion of one of the shopping carts, secured her in the seat, then placed my diaper bag into the bottom portion of the cart. (**Due to the large size of my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, and the VERY small capacity/size of Walgreen shopping carts, my diaper bag literally took up the ENTIRE bottom portion of the shopping cart.**)
After getting “settled” and ready to shop, we (the kids and I) proceeded down the first aisle, which is part of the make-up/beauty section of the store. I initially looked at the hair styling products, such as pony tail holders, headbands, hair clips, etc. I picked up a 4 or 5 piece set of headbands I thought I may want to ultimately purchase and laid them in the bottom of the cart beside my diaper bag. I proceeded to move towards the false eyelash section and began looking at the available products in that section. After 5 or so minutes of trying to make up my mind, I settled on 3 pair that I was considering purchasing and I also laid those in my cart. After we finished shopping in that particular area, we ventured up the hair care aisle, where I stood for several minutes trying to decide if I wanted to purchase and try a new brand of argan oil hair care products…..I even stood at the end of the aisle for 5 minutes or longer with my iPhone in hand reading online reviews, etc., on the particular products I was considering purchasing! I placed one of the items in the cart in the seat beside my two year daughter because I definitely was unsure if I wanted to spend $30+ on this particular hair care product.
At any rate, we continued on with our shopping trip for at least 30-45 minutes, looking at and picking up various items throughout the store. At one point, I even shopped the “natural” section of the store and took several minutes to ultimately pick out a pink shade of Burts Bee lip gloss that happened to be on clearance. Once I decided on that particular item, I handed it to my 2 year old to hold (she likes to “help” during shopping trips), but I quickly took it from her because she had been able to remove its top and I knew that was a disaster waiting to happen! I tossed it into the shopping cart upon taking it from her. That’s when I decided I did NOT want to purchase the $30+ argan oil hair care product, so I removed the item from beside my daughter in the cart, walked away from the Burts Bee lip gloss section, placed the item back it its respective place on the shelf, walked back to my cart and continued shopping.
After a while, I began to notice one particular employee happened to be on EVERY aisle my children and I walked down. Twice, when she walked past our shopping cart, she clearly made it a point to deliberately look down into our shopping cart. It was so obvious, there was absolutely NO mistaking her behavior for anything else! Between the employee following us for 10-15 minutes and then deliberately peering into our cart and my diaper bag, I became angered, so I told my children we were done shopping there, and I began to sort through the items we had placed in my cart throughout the time we had been in the store. My oldest son picked up a Doc McStuffins toy my 2 year old had been playing with and walked away to return it to the shelf. As I looked up to watch him walk towards the toy aisle, low and behold, the intrusive employee is standing directly beside me AGAIN! I continued to ignore her presence and handed my 7 year old daughter some lip balm I asked her to return to its proper place. The particular employee who had been watching us as well as another employee who was standing beside her clearly witnessed me tell my daughter to go put the lip balm back while I returned the eyelashes to the shelf. I walked away from where the employee was standing and put the 3 false eyelash packs back onto their proper “hooks” then placed the headbands on its respective peg all while she stood and watched.
We then headed to the register to pay for 3 packs of gum and one tube of lip gloss. While completing the transaction, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the above-mentioned employee quickly walk out the front door of the store. After the cashier rang up the items, she strangely asked me if I wanted my items to be placed into a bag and if I wanted my transaction receipt. I laughed at her and said, “Of course I want my items in a bag, and why wouldn’t I want my purchase receipt?!” And at this moment, the automatic door at the front of the store shifted open and I clearly heard a woman say, “She’s wearing a black shirt….getting ready to come out……” (The shirt I was wearing that evening was a dark heather gray & could have easily been mistaken to be black.) Then I hear a short spurt from a police siren outside the building. As soon as my 4 children and I walked out of the door of Walgreens, we encountered a police officer, who was parked directly in front of the door. He looked at the store employee and asked, “Is this her?” After she answered “yes”, he told me to step over to his vehicle and demanded I hand my 2 year old toddler to one of my other children (oldest being just 12 years old) and then told me to place my possessions on the hood of his vehicle. I asked him several times what the problem was and what was going on, and each time, the officer completely ignored my questions and continued with his commands. I eventually complied and that’s when he proceeded to tell me that they had received a call about a shoplifter and I was the person that was being accused of shoplifting. I had my Walgreens and my RECEIPT in my hand when I walked out the door and had just laid it on the hood of his vehicle. I told him I hadn’t stolen anything and I pointed to the bag of items I had just paid for. And of course, the first question he asked was, “Do you have a receipt for these items?” I found it VERY ironic that the cashier had JUST asked me if I wanted a bag and a receipt for the items I was purchasing. Anyway, I told him of course I did, so he picked up the bag and began comparing the items inside the bag with what was printed on the receipt. And every single item I had in my bag was on the receipt. At this point, the store employee pulled some plastic bag from her pocket and accused me of stealing the $2.99 toy/item that was missing from the packaging. I suggested and ultimately, all but begged the officer to review the store’s surveillance tapes to corroborate what I was telling him. The officer asked the employee if she would allow him to view the tapes and show him when and where I allegedly opened the packaging and removed the item, but she told him it wasn’t possible because, in her exact words, "they won't show anything because of her various angles throughout the store......" She then stood in the parking lot, loudly proclaiming to this officer that I had multiple items stashed INSIDE my diaper bag when she walked by the shopping cart and she told the officer that she witnessed me attempt to conceal these items with my wallet when I saw her walking by. My wallet is the size of a checkbook - NOT too much concealing happening with something that size! I immediately told the officer of the items I had placed beside my diaper bag and explained that they were placed on top/side of my diaper bag because of the limited space within the cart and the large size of my bag, told him I had placed ALL of the items from my shopping cart back on the respective shelves before paying for the 4 items I had in the plastic shopping bag, and again told him there were cameras all through the store and that the surveillance tapes would easily verify what I was telling him. The employee continued to deny this officer access to view the cameras and kept demanding he search my diaper bag. I knew I had nothing to hide, so when the officer asked if he could search my diaper bag, I consented. He found absolutely NOTHING -- there was NO stolen merchandise in my diaper bag/in my possession, including the "toy" she accused me of removing from the packaging. But the employee was adamant about having something done to me, so when he told her the only thing he could do was issue a notice of trespass to me.
I was utterly mortified throughout this entire ordeal. The incident took place directly in front of the entrance/exit doors of the store, so EVERY patron coming and going witnessed what was happening and could audibly hear the store employee yelling that I was a thief and that I was in "her" store stealing "all kinds of stuff ". Not to mention, my 4 children were TERRIFIED. My oldest child was so scared that he managed to use his cell phone while I was being questioned and searched to call my husband (his dad) and begged him to please come up to the store because he was scared. Not only did they have to witness a police officer searching their mom and her personal belongings, they had to endure 40 degree temperatures outside for at least 30 minutes!
I honestly care less about the trespass notice. Even had it not been issued, I would never step foot back into that store and spend another penny there! I truly believe I was slandered and defamed. Countless customers watched what was happening! There is no doubt regarding their ability to hear the employee's yelling and accusations. But most of all, I am extremely angered by the emotional and mental trauma my children were subjected to. I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through their little minds when all of this was happening! I don’t know WHAT can be done, but I definitely want SOMETHING done if I have a case against this employee and her employer!!
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my long-winded story.....I wanted to be sure to explain, in great detail, exactly what happened so I can get the most accurate advice possible. And I thank you, in advance, for your help in this matter.
Defamation: Falsely Accused of Shoplifting at a Walgreens Store in South Carolina
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