I'm sure the higher ups at Target had a few words for that employee.

Target. Where you're the target.

Some people have so much confidence in themselves it's sick. Does anyone double check their answers anymore?
Question: Is this fake?
Answer: YES
Should I confirm?:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oops. These things happen, try to do better next time.

Wow, that's some seriously rogue employee. This really sounds like something Dwight from the TV show "The Office" would do!

The bill was different, granted. I can't be certain that I'd know what to do in this situation, but I would never consider calling this woman a liar and counterfeit mastermind. People everyday, are asked to show ID when they are using their credit cards to purchase. If they resist, many times they can't make their purchase.

Instead of Target being hit with a $3+ million judgement, the title of this story could of been "Woman denied her purchases for fear she was using a counterfeit bill". She would of been pissed the hell off, but in the end, Target wouldn't of done anything wrong, or profiled her in such a vile way.

Would of looked much better for Target. But who cares, right? Target's a crock. I truly hope the employees involved get the punishment they deserve.

Wow, somebody's getting so fired for that.

Isn't a 1974 $100 dollar bill worth more than $100?

Who says the economy's doing bad? Apparently $100 in 1974 is worth $3.1 million in today's money.

Epic fail, this is just amazing.

I had a Georgia gas station cashier refuse a state quarter because she thought it was counterfeit. I tried explaining to her the economics of counterfeiting coins but it fell on deaf ears.

I'm sure they are taking this very seriously.

The problem is that everyone is taught to comply with policy without "thinking". The bill looked fake to the employee so they did what they were told, except this one decided to take it to the next level. Oops! Thinking only went as far as noticing the bill was different. Of course this whole debacle was systemic and it looked like most of the people involved had the same problem. Wow. How sad.

@albear: Hahaha yes, it totally does! That's what I thought, too.

@magilacudy: Finally, we have accurate inflation numbers.

I have a particularly odd canadian $50 - it has Mounties all over the back and a different design on the front - and I *know* if I had any interest in spending it, whatever store would think it was fake.

This will almost certainly be reduced on appeal. In a number of cases, the Supreme Court has held that punitive damages should be a small multiple of actual damages, on the order of 2-3 times. In the end, the result will be closer to $500K. Large punitive award from juries happen regularly, and are regularly reduced on appeal.

@Gokuhouse: Seriously, why did this employee suddenly think they were an expert on fake bills?

That l/p guy is a total "maveric." Mccain should admire this guy

Am I the only one that wants to see this $100 bill?

Well, at least we know that the women doesn't need to shop at target anymore!

People need to learn about foreign currency, especially their neighboring countries. Here in Canada, we get special designed logos on some quarters that are in normal circulation. A few years back, we had a poppy design on them and others had the breast cancer ribbon. I tried to exchange currency when I was in America and they rejected it saying that isn't real money.

@vastrightwing:

"Next" Level?

I think emailing an unfounded and under-investigated accusation with Photo to the area law enforcement and retailers is a few levels up the ladder.

What was this employee thinking? That she wouldn't find out about this after all these other places start refusing her business? That libel had suddenly become legal?

If this was Wal-Mart, man, consumerist readers would have trashed it.

This is one of the reasons I may never use all those $2 bills I have. I don't want to go through the trouble of having to convince someone that they're real.

Kind of like my brother-in-law, when the clerk thought his new $20 bill was fake because it didn't have a barcode on it.

Only reversed this time. Young punk who never saw an older bill.

What exactly do you say to your boss or employer after the Secret Service comes into the office to interview you? Hopefully they are nice enough to tell your employer that there was never a problem and not just leave and let you fend for yourself.

@johnarlington: "Yes, there *is* a *New* Mexico!"

My guess is that her bill looks liked this, the 1966 issue:
[en.wikipedia.org]
The more modern bill looks like this in comparision:
[www.moneyfactory.gov]
The current bill with the big head looks like this:
[www.moneyfactory.gov]

@varro: And it is part of the USA. They apparently had a problem and added USA to the license plates back in the 80s.

I love to use $2.00 bills, since they take up less space and are good for making you think about those little under a dollar impulse purchases. However, I have run into people who think they are fake and claim there is no such thing as a two dollar bill.

@Gokuhouse:

Earlier this year, I was at a gas station in central California. I went inside to purchase some coffee and snacks for my long ride home, and paid with a $5 bill. It was the old-style bill with the small picture of Lincoln. Probably a 1995 bill or something.

The cashier refused to take it. Her exact quote:

"Wow, this must be the new $5 bill we've been hearing about. I'm sorry, but we can't accept this."

Shows how educated some cashiers can be.

I wonder if this Target LP guy was the same one I once knew who got fired from being a Wal-Mart LP guy because he was way overzealous in his job. He busted a person that was a "known shoplifter", except they had nothing on them.

@johnarlington: The time you spend trying to explain something to an individual should be a function of how many teeth they have.

@brent_r:

I'm sure the higher ups at Target had a few words for that employee.

Probably just two: "You're fired."

@Eilonwynn: Just go to a bank and trade it in for a newer one.

@kaptainkk: Only if somebody buys it for more than $100

Sounds like she got 100K for each location where her info was sent. Sounds like a reasonable payout to me for being falsely accused.

@sir_pantsalot: The amount of time you should should be a function of how many teeth the person has, preferably in direct variation. Sadly, the amount of time you need is more often inversely proportional to the amount of teeth :(

Back when tickets went on sale for the Atlanta olympics, people from New Mexico had problems ordering tickets. Many of the order takers kept saying they could only sell tickets to people in the USA. Pleads to recognze New Mexico's statehood were falling on deaf ears.

@Dooley: /fowards comment to the secret service.

@Scoobatz:

Ooooh, I love $2 bills. I especially like giving them to kids as gifts. They get such a kick out of $2 bills.

I think her award was just. Target shouldn't have sent out an email impugning her reputation.

On the flip side, one has to wonder if she knew fully that this might happen and wanted to make some money off such a lawsuit. After all, she was a loss-prevention employee in the area.

At the end of the day though, Target was wrong for what they did and they deserved punishment.

Follow the link to the Greenville News site and read the comments.

Mouth breathing South Carolinian's are bashing the accuser, not Target.

Typical. I live over the border in North Carolina. There's a world of difference. Going to South Carolina, you check your brain at the border.

@Scoobatz:

I don't want to go through the trouble of having to convince someone that they're real.

A while back, I decided it might be fun to actually start paying for stuff with two dollar bills, just to see what happened. Two phone calls and a short drive to the bank later, and I had about 100 two dollar bills, which I used in place of ones and fives for the next month or so.

Out of 60 or 70 interactions, the most common reaction was nothing more than mild to medium surprise. The second most common reaction (maybe 8-10 times) was some variant of the cashier putting two singles into the till and pocketing the the two dollar bill. One of the least common reactions was absolute nonchalance. Only once was the cashier ignorant enough to think they were fake, and the manager was quick enough to correct her.

If you're looking for an novel way to start a conversation with cashiers and store owners, this is it.

Problem is, this person job is in Loss Prevention. Even having this on her record would make it hard for her to get another job in her profession. If she ever lost her job where she works.

I think the Jury award is fair in this case.

Reminds me of the $2 bill Taco Bell story up on Snopes and all the related stories they've received since:

[www.snopes.com]

[www.snopes.com]

@TinyBug: I tip in $2 bills. I like to tip well and I figure that wait staff might remember "the $2 bill guy that tips well" more often and provide better service.

@llcooljabe: I'll do it.

Target executives were completely stupid for actually letting this go to court instead of making this woman whole again.

In its answer to the complaint, Target denied wrongdoing and said that the email communication was "made in good faith."

So it's OK to destroy this woman's reputation as long as it was done in "goode faith"? Are they serious? I also find it hard to believe that the employee only e-mailed one person but they couldn't prove it in court.

@levenhopper: Ultimately, that's probably what I'd do, but it's really pretty in an odd way, so for right now it's in a frame.