Nicky Pope filed a false imprisonment lawsuit against the Rostraver Shop ’n Save store (Shop ’n Save) and its manager, Howard Russell, on the basis of the incident described below. Pope and Russell each provided deposition testimony during the discovery phase of the case. The incident, which took place in a Pennsylvania city, began when Pope entered the Shop ’n Save store, stopped at the bakery counter and purchased a cup of coffee and a piece of cake to eat while in the store. She then browsed through the store. After being notified that Pope was walking back and forth without much in her shopping cart, Russell began watching her. Russell observed that she was wearing a long-sleeved, unbuttoned flannel shirt over a T-shirt. He testified in his deposition that he saw Pope’s hand going “underneath and back into the flannel shirt,” followed by a “movement made down, possibly into the pants.” Thereafter, her “arm came back out.” Russell further observed what appeared to be a “protrusion from the left area of [Pope’s] back, at about the belt area.” Finally, Russell testified that “because of Pope’s shirt as well as her movement and the way she was positioned with her cart,” he could not see whether Pope had actually concealed any item. After Pope proceeded to the checkout stand and paid for the items, Russell stopped her in the store’s vestibule area and asked to see her receipt. Russell verified that Pope’s bakery receipt and store receipt matched her purchased items. He then asked Pope to lift up her outer shirt so that he could see whether she had concealed any items. Pope refused. As Pope acknowledged in her deposition, Russell did not touch her and did not create any physical barrier to prevent her from exiting the store. During their in-store exchange, however, Pope became upset at being accused of shoplifting. Pope told Russell that she believed she was being stopped because she was black and that she intended to sue. Russell informed Pope that he was calling the police and that she should not leave the premises. 

According to her deposition testimony, Pope believed that because the police had been called, she was not free to leave. During the 5 to 10 minutes it took for a police officer to arrive, Pope neither asked to leave the store premises nor made any attempt to leave. She also stated in her deposition that she decided to wait for the police. Upon his arrival at the Shop ’n Save, the police officer observed Russell waiting for him outside the store and Pope waiting alone in the vestibule area. Russell informed the officer of what he had observed. Pope exited the store and approached the officer, who questioned her but did not arrest her. Pope, who was never charged with shoplifting, testified in her deposition that since the incident, she had suffered from panic attacks and lack of sleep. 

Pennsylvania has a statute providing that if a merchant or the merchant’s employee has probable cause to believe that a customer was engaged in shoplifting, the merchant or employee may detain the customer in order to investigate. The statute further provides that if the detention is conducted for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner, the detaining merchant or employee is protected against false imprisonment liability even if the customer did not shoplift. After the completion of the discovery phase in Pope’s case, Pope moved for summary judgment in her favor and the defendants moved for summary judgment in their favor. How did the court rule? Why did the court rule that way?