Mom sues Target after son commits suicide

[SolidSnake84]

Target Employee Suicide: Mom Sues Retailer For Son’s Suicide After ‘Walk Of Shame’

I think this is a sad and interesting story that has the potential to change the dynamics of the whole retail / big box culture / work environment.

The article explains it all but i just wanted to point out that i worked at Target when i was 15 years old in high school. I never witnessed a "walk of shame" per say, but i DID witness the store manager handcuff an employee and take into the office who was suspected of theft. Looking back in hindsight, i'm pretty sure that was illegal because a civilian cannot handcuff or detain someone else.

It is a common misconception that security guards, or store security has the rights of "police powers" while doing there jobs at the store. My next door neighbor now does private security but used to be a sheriff's deputy, and prior to that was a city police officer. He told me that in Virginia, security guards do NOT have the right to handcuff anyone, or detain them because they are not police officers, and they do not have the power to arrest or detain anyone. They can ONLY contact the police when witnessing a theft / crime, etc... At our local mall, we have two police officers that foot patrol the mall for this very reason.

My guess is this is why Walmart has the policy to not touch or apprehend anyone suspected of stealing, due to the laws and the fact that to do so is illegal. My honest thought is that Target is going to pay to settle out of court, but even if they do go to court - this woman will probably win. Her son was disabled, so there is some attorney out there who is going to claim that Target did this as a hate crime...Very bad for Target all the way around

[JoeRedskin]

Under Maryland law, a private citizen (i.e. a security guard or just any non-comp Joe Schmoe) can make an arrest without an arrest warrant depending on the nature of the crime (commonly known as a “citizen’s arrest”). If the crime is a felony, a citizen can make an arrest if the felony is being committed in the citizen's presence or when a felony has in fact been committed, whether or not in the citizen's presence, and the citizen making the arrest has probable cause to believe the person arrested has committed the felony. If the crime is a misdemeanor, a citizen can make an arrest if the misdemeanor is committed in the citizen's presence or view and the crime amounts to a breach of the peace.

However, I don’t recommend going around attempting to make citizen’s arrest. Way too much room for misunderstandings and for lawsuits.

I expect that VA law is similar to Maryland and that the policy against security guards detaining folks is just that, a store policy.