Here is a Youtube recording (2:00 to 3:00 minutes) where a defense lawyer related the story of a client accused of stealing by a retailer. The retailer's personnel stopped and questioned the woman (fair enough). But then they detained her for several hours and never let her go to the bathroom, despite repeated requests. To make matters worse, the detaining officers invited other store employees to observe the woman's distress when she urinated all over herself.
My understanding is that the store may take "reasonable" measures under the circumstances, such as taking the woman's name, address and other relevant "pedigree" information, so they can issue a notice of appearance. Under certain circumstances, they can call the police, and detain the person a reasonable time for the police to arrive. But I would characterize the measures that they actually took as being "extrajudicial." Can the victim of such treatment sue the retailer with some hope of prevailing, and if so, under what laws/charges?
