Russell-Vaughn Ford, Inc. v. Rouse

E.W. Rouse (plaintiff) took his Falcon to Russell-Vaughn Ford, Inc. (defendant) to discuss trading it in, and a salesman took Rouse's keys while Rouse looked at new cars. When Rouse declined the trade-in offer and asked for his keys back, salesmen claimed not to know where the keys were while others sat around laughing at him; Rouse called the police, and only after an officer arrived did a salesman throw Rouse his keys, mocking him as a "cry baby" whom they "just wanted to see...cry for a while." Rouse sued for conversion, and a salesman testified at trial that "losing" a potential customer's keys was common industry practice. The jury awarded Rouse $5,000, and the dealership appealed, arguing it converted only the keys, not the car, and that Rouse could have called his wife to bring a spare set.