The National Law Journal, May 28, 2001 - June 4, 2001, Pg. A9

BYLINE: BY EMILY HELLER, SPECIAL TO THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL

ARKANSAS-BASED Dillard's department store has been hit with another jury
verdict over its security guards' conduct.

A Houston jury recently awarded $ 800,000 to the wife and parents of a
37-year-old black man who died after two white security guards beat and
hogtied him. The panel concluded that the guards, off-duty sheriff's
deputies, were negligent and that their conduct constituted assault.

Dillard's is the only large retailer that uses off-duty law enforcement
officers for security, said plaintiffs' lawyer Roger Rider, of counsel
with Hill & Parker in Houston. "That's at the center of what's wrong
here."

Cops for security

Dillard's relies on cops because if they observe a crime they become
on-duty peace officers and they, and the store, are immune under most
state laws if the officers act in good faith, Mr. Rider said.

But that didn't work with the Houston jury. It found that the two
officers were store employees at the time of the incident and found
Dillard's vicariously liable, said Brock C. Akers, a partner at Phillips
& Akers in Houston and Dillard's counsel in this and other suits

The jury did not find gross negligence or malicious intent, he said.
Robinson v. Dillard's, No. 95-61721 (Harris Co., Texas, District Ct.).

Mr. Akers said that Dillard's uses off-duty officers because they are
already trained.

Dillard's has been accused of profiling racial minorities in looking for
shoplifting suspects, Mr. Rider said. In the past 15 years, the
department store chain has defended more than 800 false imprisonment
suits, mostly filed by minorities, according to reports from lawyers in
these cases, he said.

In the most recent case, a wrongful death claim, facts were disputed
over what plaintiff Darryl Robinson was doing before security guards
grabbed him at the customer service counter. A store assistant manager
said in a deposition that she heard him ask for $ 1 million and call the
clerk a demon, said Mr. Rider.

Dillard's claimed that Mr. Robinson was having a psychological breakdown
at the time of the incident, an assertion disputed by the plaintiff's
lawyer.

"We don't know exactly what he was doing at the counter," said Mr.
Rider, though two store clerks said he was trying to get $ 500 from a
non-Dillard's credit card and that he argued with store personnel when
they declined his request.

The defense claimed that Mr. Robinson leaped onto the counter and took a
swing at a clerk. A security guard testified that he witnessed Mr.
Robinson's behavior, which he viewed as a crime in progress -- at least
disorderly conduct and possibly robbery -- Mr. Akers said.

The plaintiff's key witnesses -- store clerks who saw the incident --
said security was called and that the guards didn't witness Mr.
Robinson's behavior, said Mr. Rider.

When the guards grabbed Mr. Robinson to handcuff him, he resisted and
they struggled. They called the Houston police for backup and took him
into an office.

Ultimately, it took seven officers to tie him up, said Mr. Akers.

"He was just a wild man out of control," he said, adding that Mr.
Robinson still flopped and screamed after being hogtied.

Mr. Robinson suddenly went quiet and an officer checked and found a
pulse, said Mr. Akers. By the time an ambulance arrived, Mr. Robinson
had stopped breathing, he said.

Paramedics were able to resuscitate him, but days later his heart
stopped, said Mr. Rider. Mr. Robinson had a head wound, fractured ribs,
deep wrist cuts and facial abrasions, Mr. Rider said.

The jury exonerated the Houston police officers who participated in the
hogtying. Mr. Akers said that the jury reached a compromise verdict,
which was "very disappointing."

The jury's award was $ 1 million. It was reduced by finding Mr. Robinson
20% negligent.

Dillard's disclosed during the case that it has four other pending death
or serious injury suits involving security guards, Mr. Rider said. He
said that he does not represent the plaintiffs but has consulted with
the lawyers on two cases.

Mr. Akers declined to discuss any other Dillard's cases. Dillard's
general counsel Paul J. Schroeder did not return a call.