North Carolina woman sues Walmart after claiming a self-checkout freeze led to her being surrounded by security and police over a $5 item

A Charlotte, North Carolina woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Walmart, alleging she was wrongfully detained and publicly humiliated after a self-checkout machine stopped working while she was scanning a $5.01 bottle of salad dressing. Brianna Jones told The Charlotte Observer that the incident took place at the Walmart on Wilkinson Boulevard. She said she filed her complaint in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, paying the $407 filing fee herself.

Jones said she had spent $129 on groceries for her family and a disabled, elderly neighbor when the scanner suddenly quit as she tried to scan a bottle of Hidden Valley Original Ranch dressing. She said she asked a nearby security guard to fix the machine using his badge, as she still had items left to purchase.

According to her complaint, a store manager told Jones the scanner had been deactivated because she was moving items through too quickly, which the manager allegedly suggested was a sign she may have been trying to steal. Jones said she provided receipts to both a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer and store employees to show she had paid for everything in her possession.

She says roughly a dozen workers showed up at her checkout 

Jones alleged in her lawsuit that what felt like roughly a dozen security workers and other store employees suddenly surrounded her at the checkout station. A police sergeant who later contacted her told her only seven workers had actually shown up, the outlet reported. Jones said it felt like more because she was so shocked and frightened at the time.

“Despite this clear evidence that Plaintiff had lawfully purchased … the items in her possession, Defendant’s employees and the officer continued to detain and question Plaintiff,” the complaint states. Jones further alleged that a store employee “harshly snatched items from Plaintiff’s hands” during the confrontation. Her lawsuit described the employee’s conduct as “unnecessary, unwarranted and intentionally humiliating to Plaintiff.”

She also alleged that when she questioned a police officer about the legality of that action, the officer grabbed her fist “in a threatening manner as if to arrest” her. This is not the first time Walmart has faced legal action from a shopper over an in-store incident, as a Florida mother separately sued Walmart over a product she allegedly found contaminated in store.

According to her complaint, Jones claimed she “was held against her will at the checkout area, felt threatened” by security and other employees, and “was subjected to public humiliation in front of other customers.” She said store employees took both her receipts and all her groceries and never returned them. “They took everything,” Jones said. “I left Walmart with nothing.”

Jones, described in filings as a stay-at-home mother who homeschools her children, said she fled the store after a manager allegedly asked her to go to a room in the back. Complaints about product or packaging issues at Walmart stores are not uncommon. One shopper recently discovered a Walmart purchase had already been opened and used before he bought it.

Jones is representing herself in the case, known legally as a pro se filing, and is seeking more than $25,000 in compensatory damages and more than $25,000 in punitive damages, along with court costs and interest, according to court documents. Her lawsuit describes Walmart’s actions as negligent and claims she suffered emotional distress and financial losses as a result of the incident.

Walmart has not yet filed a formal response to Jones’ claims in court. A company spokesperson, Kelly Hellbusch, declined to address the specific allegations when contacted for comment, saying, “We will respond through the Court as appropriate.”