Seth was shopping at a local music store looking for a CD, when he suddenly
remembered that he had an appointment with his math professor. He pulled his calendar
out of his backpack only to discover that he was late for the appointment. Seth quickly
put the calendar back into his backpack and ran out of the store. As he made his exit
from the store, a security guard asked Seth to accompany him to an office at the back of
the store to which Seth consented. Once there, the guard accused Seth of shoplifting.
The guard quickly searched Seth and his backpack and found nothing. The guard
apologized to Seth and explained that the store had recently experienced an outbreak of
theft. The whole incident took less than five minutes. Under these circumstances:
A. Seth can sue the store for false imprisonment.
B. Seth can sue the store for false imprisonment, emotional distress, and battery.
C. The store has conditional privilege to stop persons it feels are shoplifting as long as
the owner acts in a reasonable manner and detains the suspect only for a reasonable
length of time.
D. The store has no conditional privileges to stop persons it feels are shoplifting, but it
is liable for punitive damages.
Answer: