Family Sues CVS Claiming False Imprisonment And Battery
MIAMI (CBS4) - A teenage girl and her family are suing one of the biggest drug store chains in America over what she says happened in a South Florida pharmacy.
The 14-year-old girl says she was unfairly accused of shoplifting, and then she says a female CVS employee "dragged her" into a bathroom and held her there for three minutes.
"She kept on forcing me, like pushing me, toward the stall," said the girl, who did not want to be identified because she said the incident was too traumatic. "I feel like the lady is there, and I feel closed up, like nobody cares what happened."
It was January 1, 2010. The teen says she was looking for feminine care products. She says the CVS employee accused her of stealing pads and taking them into the bathroom.
The girl says she never stole a thing. Now she and her family have filed a lawsuit accusing CVS and the employee of false imprisonment and battery.
"If they thought for a moment that she was shoplifting, the appropriate thing to do is not to push her into a stall, but to speak to her and her mother after she exits the bathroom," said the girl's attorney, Spencer Aronfeld.
The girl's mother says she urged store employees to call police. The police came.
"I had to show them that I didn't steal anything, so I took out my pad," said the girl.
The police report does not mention the teen's claim that she was dragged and then held in the bathroom. The family agreed to pay for pads and the girl was given a "trespass warning."
"I felt like nobody trusted me. They just kept blaming me say I was a thief even though I was trying my hardest to tell them to look at the cameras to see the truth," said the girl.
CBS4 News spoke with that CVS employee over the phone on Friday. All she would say is, "this is ridiculous."
CVS says it has not seen the lawsuit and cannot comment on the allegations.
