Texas Woman Sues Walmart for Ripping Up Her Real $100 Bills Without Checking If They're Fake
In court documents obtained by Court House News, Texas resident Julia Garcia claims Walmart employees ripped up her authentic 100 dollar bills and detained her without just cause for two hours despite confirming after the fact that the money was real.
In the lawsuit, Garcia says the incident in question occurred in December 2010 while she was Christmas shopping with her kids at a San Antonio Walmart.
In paying for her $150 in purchases, Garcia handed the cashier a $100 bill and a $50 bill. "The cashier inspected the $100 bill, turned to another cashier and had a brief discussion, and returned to her register telling the plaintiff her money was 'fake,'" reads Garcia's complaint [pdf].
The complaint continues: "The cashier proceeded to rip the $100 bill in half without performing any counterfeit detection tests. The metallic strip in the $100 bill was clearly visible."
But Garcia's ordeal was just getting started.
The cashier finally tested the bill with a counterfeit detection pen, but despite the marker revealing the money was real, a manager was called over by the cashier and informed it was fake.
Upon being told by the managed that she would need to wait for the police to arrive, Garcia promptly produced an additional $100 bill, which the manager promptly proceeded to rip in half.
The police eventually showed up and, after a quick review of the facts, ordered the store manager to give Garcia $200 — but not before he tried to hand her back her ripped-up cash as restitution.
For her "false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress," Garcia seeks an unspecified amount in punitive damages.
