Mobile, Alabama (AP) —A woman in Alabama was falsely arrested for shoplifting in Walmart and was intimidated by the company after the proceedings were dismissed and was given $ 2.1 million in damages. ..
A jury in Mobile County on Monday ruled in favor of the Semis Leslie Nurse, the press reported.
The nurse said in a lawsuit that she had stopped in November 2016 when she tried to leave Wal-Mart with the groceries she said she had already paid. AL.com.. She used self-checkout but said the scanning device froze. The worker did not accept her explanation and she was arrested for shoplifting.
Her case was dismissed a year later, but according to the case, she received a letter from a Florida law firm that threatened a civil lawsuit if she did not pay $ 200 as a settlement. It was more than the cost of groceries that she was accused of stealing.
The nurse said Wal-Mart had instructed the law firm to send a letter — and she wasn’t the only one to receive the letter.
“Defendants falsely accuse innocent Alabama citizens of shoplifting and then engage in patterns and practices of trying to raise money from innocent defendants,” the proceedings alleged.
WKRG reported The trial said that Wal-Mart and other major retailers routinely use such settlements in legally permitted states, and that Wal-Mart earned hundreds of millions of dollars this way in two years. It featured testimony.
Wal-Mart’s defense lawyer said the practice was legal in Alabama. A spokeswoman told AL.com in the proceedings because “we do not believe that the judgment is backed by evidence and that the amount of damages given is in excess of what is permitted by law.” Said to do.