I agree with LRM's post #30. Include the clerk in the lawsuit.
This is just wild speculation, but I suspect the clerk's message was one bordering on hysteria, and as a consequence the policemen were 'amped' up when they came to the store - and had already drawn conclusions that there was a wild man in the store waving a gun around. If that's the way in played out, the clerk and policemen all need to be fired and sued.
But in my opinion the CostCo corporation shouldn't be in the suit (not that the lawyers will keep them out), because I don't see how they can be held accountable for a clerk that breaks down at the sight of an evil firearm (who knows how she reacts when she reads the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights? Probably curls up into a ball and hides under her/his bed...). Its only a clerk position - its hard to see how CostCo could have prevented this one. The Police, on the other hand - they are supposed to be trained, and able, to handle these situations.
I do understand what you are saying, it just is that the store manager is responsible as well. From reading the story, it sounds like the store manager ordered the store to be evacuated.
My question has been, based on what?
Did the police request this, or did this store manager get informed by the slandering clerk, and made this decision WITHOUT checking the facts?
Costco could well be culpable in this situation.
What did this store manager know, and HOW did he know it?
I suspect the clerk's message was one bordering on hysteria, and as a consequence the policemen were 'amped' up when they came to the store911 phone calls have been around for decades now. Don't police get training regarding the fact that you can't judge the situation in advance based on the level of hysteria of the caller?
Evidently not in LV.
its hard to see how CostCo could have prevented this oneIt was their clerk; their responsibility. Furthermore, it was their manager who "sounded the general alarm" and evacuated the store. I don't see how Costco could have been more involved.