Excessive use of force

[m.hokenson]

Jurisdiction

Oregon

I had left a Safeway store and was approached by security. He stated he saw me steal from the store. I let him look through all my possessions. He continued asking me where the merchandise was and I told him i was done with the conversation and my friend and I went on our way.

Mind you i am on crutches with a badly sprained ankle. We make it to the street running behind the store and I sit on the curb to roll a cigarette. All of a sudden the same security is back grabbing me and putting a handcuff on me. I said I was calling the police and he grabbed my phone out of my hand and put it in his pocket. At this point I start screaming for help. The cuff was so tight my hand was turning purple and he had my arm twisted awkwardly and he kept pushing in to me. I repeatedly asked for him to loosen the cuff pointing out I wasn't able to run. There was many people about as a response to my cries for help.

Eventually the police showed up and released the cuff. I was extremely upset. They asked me if I had anything on me from Safeway. I said no and told them that the security gourd had already looked through my things when I was first approached so he already knew I didn't have any merchandise.

The police searched me and my stuff and found nothing and told me i was free to go. My friend and I leave and he tells me the other police told him this is an ongoing issue with this security officer and not the first issue like this but that they have been trying to get him out of this location but couldn't get him out because he is a union employee.

Who do you sue? Him, the store or the union? How likely am I to find someone to take this case on contingency?

 

[army judge]

You beat the bushes talking to attorneys in your county.
You won't find the lawyer trolling the Internet.
You will open yourself up to many scammers, killers, sexual deviants, maybe even a killer or two.

So, start calling, emailing, visiting local attorneys.
You can even see if the ACLU or Legal Aid has any interest in the person who attacked you.

You can also contact your local and state elected officials.
The tv stations and newspaper might get you publicity.
I hope you got the names of the cops, copy of the police report, and names of the security a users who allegedly attacked you, too.

 

[adjusterjack]

Who do you sue? Him, the store or the union?

You sue the individual and his employer. I don't know where you are getting the union thing from. The union has nothing to do with anything.

How likely am I to find someone to take this case on contingency?

Slim.

If all you have is a bruised wrist and a bruised ego there isn't likely to be enough money involved for any attorney to work on a contingency but you are free to consult attorneys and review your options.

 

[shrinkmaster]

I am a Retail Theft Consultant and answer questions like yours daily. This is what is called a "Bad Stop" and yes there are actions you can take. It will be difficult to get a lawyer to take such a case as the reward would be low. However you can contact corporate office and tell the what happened what Police said and tell them to avoid legal action you would like some form of compensation. Expect a gift card to be offered. This is your best and quickest solution. Based on your tale I would not take less than $100.00 in gift card. You can try legal approach but this will take a year or more and your Lawyer will get one third of your reward if any.

 

[BadKarma]

Who do you sue? Him, the store or the union? How likely am I to find someone to take this case on contingency?

Absolutely sue all of the above. If you had nothing and there was no proof i would def get a copy of the police report for that incident and hopefully they wrote one up. There are several key issues to a valid stop made by loss prevention officers. If just one of those key issues is not made the stop is invalid. If they stop you and do not have valid proof you selected and concealed an item. You could be looking at thousands of dollars depending on how it went down. Did they outright accuse you of shoplifting? Did they grab you and cuff you? That doesn't mean go out and stir the pot because I've seen them falsify documents and screw up lives. Just one case settled for over $200,000. The loss prevention officer was harassing customers. They are not allowed to use excessive force as way to many innocent customers have been suing and costing retail chains millions in legal fees and settlements. They also submit those apprehensions to a national database so when you go for a job your flagged as a shoplifter. You may be in one of those as well. I would contact USIS or Hire right to see what is in your report. I believe USIS was shut down because of major issues. There is also a civil demand database.

USIS (company) - Wikipedia
HireRight - Wikipedia
Both companies are and were owned by Altegrity!

These companies keep changing hands and this to me is a national security issue because they handle millions of peoples personal information!

ARI was a subsidiary of Altegrity Inc, and was owned by Providence Equity Partners, a venture capital firm. As of 31 December 2014, creditors led by Oaktree Capital Management were nearing an agreement to seize control of Altegrity Inc.

In February, 2015, the company filed for bankruptcy. After their bankruptcy, Altegrity settled with the U.S. Justice Department for $30 million over fraud charges. ARI became part of the Kroll, Inc. business unit.

I'm a Former LP Admin that watched the LP's to catch them committing fraud and abuse. I've seen them falsify and tamper with shoplifting apprehension reports. The company i worked for got pissed because i would not shred the original reports that they were changing pertinent data on. The reports that were signed stayed in my desk in a folder labeled shred. There is much more to the story but its irrelevant here. So the LP industry has its own issues. I love going after corporate fraud and abuse. I love going after Government fraud and abuse.

 

[zddoodah]

Who do you sue? Him, the store or the union?

I don't sue anyone. You, on the other hand, seem to have a valid against the security guard and the store. You have no valid claim against any union (and "BadKarma's" suggestion to the contrary is legally unsupportable).

How likely am I to find someone to take this case on contingency?

Speculation about how "likely" you are to find a lawyer willing to do this on contingency won't be the slightest bit useful to you. Even if 23 people tell you that you'll have no problem finding a lawyer to do this, what good would that do you? The only way to know for sure if you can find such an attorney is to call some and ask.

That said, your post suggests you suffered little, if any, actual damage as a result of this incident. Therefore, your only likely recovery will be nominal damages and punitive damages. My guess is that this is the sort of thing that could be resolved by an attorney sending a letter demanding some unreasonable amount of money and then negotiating some relatively small settlement.