delivered the opinion of the court:
Sarah Robinson brought this action against Wieboldt Stores, Inc., to recover damages for pain and suffering arising from a false imprisonment which occurred on November 21, 1977. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Robinson, awarding $5,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages. Wieboldt Stores appeals, contending: (1) that judgment notwithstanding the verdict should have been entered in its favor because there was no evidence that a false imprisonment occurred; (2) that the judgment should be reversed and a new trial ordered because the verdict was against the manifеst weight of the evidence; (3) that it was reversible error for the trial court to allow plaintiff to testify about preexisting ailments and that the incident caused her to have an “attack”; and (4) that it was reversible error for plaintiff’s counsel to repeatedly ask the jurors to put themselves in the position of plaintiff and to inject his opinions into the closing argument.
On November 21, 1977, at about 6:30 p.m., the 66-year-old plaintiff was shopping in the Evanston Wieboldt Store. She purchased a scarf on the first floor of the store with her credit card which she had for 48 years. Plaintiff chose to wear the scarf and removed the price tag and handed it to the sales clerk. The sales clerk did not object when plaintiff put the scarf around her neck. The clerk handed plaintiff a copy of the sales receipt which plaintiff put in her pocket. Plaintiff then took the escalator to the third floor of the store.
As plaintiff stepped off the escalator a security guard grabbed her by the left arm near her shoulder. The guard gave his name and showed his badge. He asked where she got the scarf and requested her to accompаny him to a certain room. She told him that she purchased the scarf on the first floor and had the receipt in her pocket. During the entire confrontation the guard was holding tightly onto plaintiff’s upper arm. Plaintiff, who was black, described the guard as white, tall, weighing about 200
The guard took plaintiff down to the scarf department on the first floor. Plaintiff removed the scarf from her neck and noticed a small tag on the corner. This tag gave instructions for the care of the scarf. This was apparently what the security guard had seen before grabbing plaintiff. The sales clerk told the guard that plaintiff had purchased the scarf a short time earlier. The guard told the sales clerk that she had caused plaintiff a lot of trouble and had embarrassed her. He then walked away without apologizing to plaintiff.
Plaintiff testified that she felt very sick after the incident. She obtained some change to call a cab but was unable to complete the call because of the way she felt. She went outside the store and vomited. A clerk from the store who knew plaintiff saw her and asked what had happеned. Plaintiff explained, and the clerk told her to see the manager the next day. Plaintiff said she couldn’t because she was too sick. A cab was called, and plaintiff left for home. She sent a letter to the manager of Wieboldt’s but received no response. Plaintiff stayed in bed for a week. She did not have to do so but said she simply did not feel well. She testified that she had high blood pressure prior to the incident. She also stated that she did not have angina prior to the incident but did so after-wards.
Defendant’s chief of security, Curtis Chancelor, testified that he was working in the store on November 21, 1977, at the employee’s entrance checking employee’s packages. He said he had inspected the time cards and that there were no other security personnel working that evening. He testified that it was occasionally necessary to take further steps after being shown a sales receipt because of dishonest employees. He also stated that if a sales tag was on an item of merchandise he would stop the customer in a courteous way. On cross-examination, Chancelor testified that a рolice officer hired as a part-time security guard fit the description of the guard given by plaintiff. Defendant never produced the guard. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $5000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages.
Defendant’s first contention on appeal is that judgment notwithstanding the verdict should have been entered in its favor because there is no evidence that a false imprisonment occurred. False imprisonment consists of the unlawful restraint, against a person’s will, of that individual’s personal liberty or freedom of locomotion. (Karow v. Student Inns, Inc.
“§16A — 5. Detention. Any merchant who has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed retail theft may detain suсh person, on or off the premises of a retail mercantile establishment, in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable length of time for all or any of the following purposes:
(a) To request identification;
(b) To verify such identification;
(c) To make reasonable inquiry as. to whether such person has in his possession unpurсhased merchandise and, to make reasonable investigation of the ownership of such merchandise;
(d) To inform a peace officer of the detention of the person and surrender that person to the custody of a peace officer;
(e) Hi the case of a minor, to inform a peace officer, the parents, guardian or other private person interested in the welfare of that minor of this detention and to surrender custody of such minor to such person.
A merchant may make a detention as permitted herein off the premises of a retail mercantile establishment only if such detention is pursuant to an immediate pursuit of such person.”
“§16A — 6. Affirmative Defense. A detention as permitted in this Article does not constitute an arrest or an unlawful restraint, as defined in Section 10 — 3 of this Code, nor shall it render the merchаnt liable to the person so detained.”
The standard of review to be applied by this court in deciding whether judgment notwithstanding the verdict should be entered is whether all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the opponent, so overwhelmingly favors the movant that no contrary verdict could ever stand. (Pedrick v. Peoria & Eastern R.R. Co. (1967),
Defendant also contends that punitive damages are inappropriate. It is important to note, however, that defendant made no objеction to the instruction on punitive damages given to the jury. Failure to object to an instruction at the jury instructions conference constitutes a waiver of that objection. (Malavolti v. Meridian Trucking Co. (1979),
In any event, we believe there was a factual basis for the punitive damages instruction. Such damages are permitted where an arrest is effected recklessly, oppressively, insultingly or wilfully, with a design to oppress and injure. (Shelton v. Barry (1946),
Defendant argues that punitive damages should not be awarded against a corporate defendant for acts committed by an employee. This contention, as with the objection to the instruction on punitive damages, is waived since no objection was made at trial. (Malavolti v. Meridian Trucking Co. (1979),
Defendant’s next contention is that the jury verdict is against the
Defendant’s next contention is that it was reversiblе error for the trial court to permit plaintiff to testify about pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure and that the incident caused her to have angina and an “attack.” Defendant argues that plaintiff was not competent to testify to these conditions and that since hеr testimony was the only evidence that such conditions existed, it was reversible error to admit the testimony. At the outset, we note that defendant properly objected to this testimony both prior to this particular questioning and during the testimony. Plaintiff’s assertion that a waiver occurred is therefore without merit.
A similar question was faced by the Illinois Supreme Court in American Smelting & Refining Co. v. Industrial Com. (1933),
“As to whether or not he is suffering from lead poisoning is a scientific question that must be determined by professional men, skilled in the practice of medicine and the diagnosing of human ailments. This is not a case where there is a traumatic injury resulting in a loss of or injury to some portion of the human body about which the plaintiff is competent to testify, but is a scientific subject, to be determined from objective symptoms as to the type of human ailment from which he suffers.” (353 Ill. 324 , 329.)
In Kozlowski v. City of Chicago (1904),
While it would have been proper for plaintiff to describe any symptoms or physical limitations whiсh she did not experience prior to the incident in Wieboldt’s (Franklin v. Randolph (1971),
Since plaintiff’s testimony was the only evidence concerning the extent of her injuries, the error in admitting her incompetent medical testimony,
Defendant’s final contention is that it was reversible error for plaintiff’s counsel to repeatedly inject his opinion and ask thе jurors to put themselves in the place of plaintiff. It was improper for plaintiff’s counsel, during opening statement and closing argument, to ask the jurors to put themselves in the shoes of plaintiff (see Offutt v. Pennoyer Merchants Transfer Co. (1976),
We affirm the judgment in favor of plaintiff on the issue of liability. We reverse the award of both compensatory and punitive damages and remand the case to the trial court on the issue of those damages alone.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part and remanded.
DOWNING and PERLIN, JJ., concur.