Major Department Store Settles Complaint of Customer Profiling for $195,000
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Plaintiff alleged that in February 2016, employees of said department store in Philadelphia wrongfully detained an African American minor, questioned her, frisked her, removed and inspected inside of her coat and its pockets, emptied them and detained her on suspicion of shoplifting — all while videotaping some or all of these acts and did not contact her mother or notify the police, then “released” her. The incident lasted less than approximately 13 minutes. The plaintiff then immediately went home and reported the incident to her mother. After unsatisfactory explanations from a store representative, the parent retained personal injury attorney Thomas More Marrone to represent her and her minor daughter in order to investigate the matter further, determine the facts, and if wanted to pursue a claim against the department store.
On that same day, attorney Tom Marrone of the Philadelphia-based law firm MOREMARRONE LLC, contacted the corporate offices to discuss the matter and informed the company of their intentions to gather facts and also critical to the case, put them on notice that they would be required to preserve all evidence pursuant to possible legal action.
Along with substantive discussions over the next several days, Mr. Marrone also personally visited, inspected and observed the store location where the incident took place as well as examined the surveillance system, its Loss Prevention employees’ conduct and the physical configuration of the store and it’s merchandise, to corroborate with the plaintiff’s detailed account of what had taken place on February 26, 2016.
The department store referred the matter to an outside counsel and after detailed negotiations, Mr. Marrone finalized a settlement of $195,000, subject to court approval — which occurred shortly thereafter by Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, Orphan’s Court Division. The settlement was agreed upon within a month of the incident and without subjecting the minor Plaintiff to the rigors of pre-trial litigation or a trial.
About Thomas More Marrone and MOREMARRONE LLC:
MOREMARRONE LLC has handled cases producing some of the largest verdicts and settlements in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The firm represents plaintiffs in significant personal injury, class action, and other complex civil litigation. After a recent 11-month stretch that included two class action jury trials resulting in a settlement and verdict amounting to well over $15 million in addition to several substantial personal injury recoveries, successful business and employment negotiations, and hundreds of satisfied clients, Tom Marrone established his multifaceted firm, MOREMARRONE LLC.
Licensed to practice in the State and Federal courts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, Tom Marrone has extensive experience and proven success handling difficult, complex cases, especially class actions and collective actions, cases involving personal injury, employment, wage and hour claims, insurance matters, product liability, consumer protection, consumer fraud, deceptive practices, legal malpractice, and wrongful use of civil proceedings.
Individual and corporate clients also engage MOREMARRONE LLC for advisory services, including legal matters, crisis prevention and crisis management. A veteran class action trial lawyer, Tom Marrone also offers consultations with other attorneys and law firms related to class action and complex litigation theory development, implementation, and trial strategy.
You can reach Tom Marrone via email or 215.966.4142.
MOREMARRONE LLC 1601 market st #2500 philadelphia pa 19103 moremarrone.com