Costco Hit With $50M Lawsuit: What is False Imprisonment? By David Goguen on May 18, 2009 6:57 AM | No TrackBacks A lawsuit filed in California accuses Costco Wholesale Corp. of falsely imprisoning its employees, by keeping workers after hours while bosses inventory jewelry and check cash registers in the warehouse stores. The lawsuit, filed in San Diego County, alleges that Costco workers are prevented from leaving even though they're not being paid during the 15-minute store closing routines. The main plaintiff is Mary Pytelewski, a clerk at a Costco store in San Marcos, and the suit seeks class action status and $50 million in damages, the Los Angeles Times reports. So, what is false imprisonment? The short answer is that it's the confinement of a person against their will, without legal authority. False imprisonment can be the subject of a personal injury lawsuit (as in the Costco case) or a criminal prosecution. False Imprisonment in Civil Law. In civil law, false impriso