Coblyn v. Kennedy's, Inc.
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
268 N.E.2d 860 (1971)
Coblyn (plaintiff), a seventy-year-old shopper, put an ascot he had purchased elsewhere into his coat pocket while trying on jackets at Kennedy's (defendant) department store, then put it on around his neck as he headed for the exit; a store employee, Goss, confronted him publicly, grabbed his arm, and insisted he accompany him to see the manager without explaining why or identifying himself as a store employee. Coblyn, an elderly man making no attempt to flee, suffered chest pains during the ordeal and was later hospitalized after the cashier confirmed the ascot was indeed his own; a jury awarded him $12,500 for false imprisonment, and Kennedy's appealed.
Whether, in a defense against a claim of false imprisonment on a merchant's premises, the requirement of "reasonableness" in the grounds for believing larceny is occurring is measured by an objective standard.