Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Cockrell
Texas Court of Appeals
61 S.W.3d 774 (2001)
- Written by Nicholas Decoster, JD
Facts
In November 1996, Karl Cockrell (plaintiff) was detained by Raymond Navarro, a loss-prevention officer, while Cockrell was attempting to leave a retail store owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) (defendant). Navarro asked Cockrell to follow him into a manager’s office, where Navarro asked Cockrell to take down his pants and remove his shirt. Cockrell had a large bandage covering a surgical wound on his stomach, and Navarro asked Cockrell to remove the bandage as well. Two additional Wal-Mart employees were in the office when Cockrell was forced to remove the bandage. Finding no evidence of theft, Navarro apologized and allowed Cockrell to leave. Following the incident, Cockrell suffered mental anguish and became withdrawn. Cockrell eventually brought a claim of false imprisonment against Wal-Mart. At trial, Cockrell’s parents testified that Cockrell refused to leave the house following the incident and that his relationship with his father suffered. The jury returned a verdict for Cockrell and awarded $300,000 in damages. Wal-Mart appealed the decision.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Dorsey, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.