Sometimes the truth is harder to understand than fiction. Verdict against McDonald’s for $6.1 million in workplace strip search case upheld by Kentucky Appellate Court.
Editor’s comment: We report this to be sure everyone in HR, benefits and safety is aware of it for future preventative measures and training. Without intending to sound insensitive, we ask our readers to tell us how this amount of money can bear any semblance of common sense when one considers this young lady has no visible or permanent physical injury of any kind. Yes, we do feel bad for her and we are certain she had some psychological impact but, in our minds, she will be laughing while toting her millions in a stretch limo all the way to the bank.
We consider this a patent example of an awful fact of American life and modern personal injury litigation–something bad happened so a random corporate defendant has to pay heavily. We feel one could just as easily have blamed the phone company for providing the phones used in the scam, the surveillance camera installers who put in cameras that recorded the event but didn’t stop it or any random police department you want to pick—their “culpability” for the bad and unfortunate choices made by the employees of McDonalds during and after this event was just as strained. When the U.S. personal injury system starts to look like a poor person’s lottery, as it does here, we think reforms are needed.
At some point, starting in the mid-1990s, some moron started to call fast food restaurants and masquerade as the local police, FBI or other authority. The caller would then ask company managers to start ordering workers to do strange things, like impromptu cavity searches or jumping jacks as part of a purported criminal investigation. Numerous incidents were reported around the country. The actual bad guy(s) got away and their identities remain unknown.
What happened in one rural McDonald’s in Mt. Washington, Kentucky clearly went dramatically over the top. We cannot publish all the details because your spam blockers will not let them all through but suffice it to say the young employee and those around her underwent substantial discomfiture as part of the hoax. The corporate defendant came under attack because they were alleged to have “known” of this scam by a random goof and did not take steps felt necessary to warn or train folks not to lose their minds and all sense of decency and judgment when they received such calls.
The matter went to hearing before a jury. We are confident the legal department of McDonalds was stunned when they ruled claimant was entitled to $6.1 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The Kentucky Court of Appeals just issued a ruling which exhaustively looked at all the facts and law but still affirmed. The ruling and details are on the web at:
http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/news.do?feed=yellowbrix&storyid=1000038480
The corporate office of this major U.S. food retailer made their position crystal-clear in an official statement:
We are extremely disappointed with today’s Appellate Court decision. McDonald’s is not disputing that what happened to [Plaintiff] was wrong. However, it has been our position throughout these proceedings that she was the victim of a malicious hoax perpetrated by individuals not representing McDonald’s.
The dollar amount McDonalds owes as of November 15th is $10,900,000. As we indicate above, we were reluctant to publish this sad legal note but we want our readers to understand you need to address it as part of your training programs to avoid the chance someone pulls such a prank on your organization.
