PHILADELPHIA – The lawsuit brought by a man who felt he was accused of theft and defamed by the management of a Dollar General store in Philadelphia has had his case thrown out through a Judgment of Non Pros.
On Aug. 22, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Arnold L. New ruled the case brought by Ravanna Spencer would be dismissed, due to his failure to appear at a case management conference on July 24 and a rule to show cause hearing earlier that same day.
Spencer, of Philadelphia, filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on March 15 against Dollar General, Inc. and Jane Doe, both also of Philadelphia.
Spencer said he was shopping in the Dollar General store in the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia on Dec. 18, 2017, when he asked the defendant Jane Doe employee where the heaters were. After being directed to the aisle where they were said to be located, but not being able to find them, Spencer returned to ask the clerk for assistance.
Spencer said he received attitude from Doe, before returning to the same aisle to search for the heater. When he was again unsuccessful in finding it, Spencer wanted to ask the employee for help a second time – when he says the clerk told him to leave the store immediately and called him “a thief.”
When Spencer said he didn’t steal anything and questioned whether he was being profiled due to his race (African-American), the clerk reiterated her order to Spencer to leave the store, allegedly. When Spencer asked to speak to a store manager, the employee said she was in fact the manager and again told Spencer to leave, he claims.
Spencer claimed he didn’t need to steal anything and pulled out money from his pockets to demonstrate that fact, as two Philadelphia police officers entered the store soon after. When Doe pointed out Spencer, the officers searched him but found only the cash Spencer had just referenced, he says. Nonetheless, Spencer said he was removed from the store and told not to return.
Spencer alleged Doe knew her accusations of thievery were false and made them anyway, despite store surveillance camera footage which would show otherwise, and led to him being falsely detained by police. Further, Spencer said Dollar General was responsible for the conduct of its store manager.
For counts of defamation of character and false imprisonment, the plaintiff had been seeking unspecified damages.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180301728
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com