56 A.D.2d 798 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1977
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County, entered March 2, 1976, after a jury verdict, awarding to plaintiff against all defendants $10,000 compensatory damages for false arrest, and punitive damages of $5,000 and $25,000 against defendants David Gelles and Associated Dry Goods Corp., respectively, unanimously modified, on the law, the punitive damages stricken, and, as so modified, affirmed, without costs and without disbursements. Plaintiff was acquitted, after a jury trial, of a petit larceny charge following her arrest by two security officers of Lord & Taylor, a well-known New York department store. She had been accused of stealing a pair of sunglasses. Taken to a police station by the city police, she was booked, fingerprinted and released for a later court appearance. She was detained a total of approximately three hours. Plaintiff is entitled to be compensated for defendants’ wrongful acts and considering that the elements of damage include mental suffering such as indignity, humiliation, shame and disgrace and loss of earnings, we feel that the award of $10,000 is not unreasonable and we therefore affirm. (See Fields v Victory Chain Stores, 59 Misc 2d 814, 816.) We find no justification for the punitive damages award. Shoplifting is a serious problem. Section 218 of the General
