Reference no: EM131377571

The plaintiff, Edith Mitchell, was forcibly stopped as she exited a Wal-Mart (defendant) store. The plaintiff, accompanied by her thirteen-year-old daughter, went through the checkout and purchased several items at the defendant's store. As she exited, the plaintiff passed through an electronic antitheft device, which sounded an alarm.

Robert Canady, employed by the defendant as a ‘‘people greeter'' and security guard, forcibly stopped the plaintiff at the exit, grabbed the plaintiff's bag, and told her to step back inside, but never touched the plaintiff or her daughter and never threatened to touch either of them. Nevertheless, the plaintiff described the security guard's actions in her affidavit as ‘‘gruff, loud, rude behavior.''

This security guard removed every item the plaintiff had just purchased and ran it through the security gate. One of the items still had a security code unit on it, which an employee admitted could have been overlooked by the cashier. When the security guard finished examining the contents of the plaintiffs' bag, he put it on the checkout counter.

This examination of her bag took ten or fifteen minutes. Once her bag had been checked, no employee of defendant ever told plaintiff she could not leave. The plaintiff was never threatened with arrest. The plaintiff brought a tort action against the Wal-Mart alleging false imprisonment, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Is the defendant liable for any of these torts? Explain.