Posted on 10/05/2007 4:02:28 PM PDT by Westlander
SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. - A jury awarded $6.1 million Friday to a woman who said she was forced to strip in a McDonald's back office after someone called the restaurant posing as a police officer.
In the lawsuit, she said someone called the restaurant in Mount Washington impersonating a police officer and gave a description of a young, female employee, accusing her of stealing from a customer. The caller demanded the woman be strip searched.
Ogborn was forced to undress, endure a strip search, and to perform sexual acts, the lawsuit said. The events were captured on surveillance video, which was shown to jurors during the trial.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I believe in personal accountability. Years ago I worked a job where a co-worker was sexually harassing me. Did I hold the company responsible? No. Should I have? I don’t think so. Maybe if I had approached the manager and said so and so was harassing me, and they didn’t do anything about it, and it continued. But then I wasn’t chained to my desk, I could have found employment elsewhere. I dealt with the problem myself. I was also raised not to question authority. But anyone, with a modicum of common sense, knows when something isn’t quite kosher. Both the victim and the manager should be knocked upside the head for being stupid. When I was the victim’s age I was unbelievably naive and I would never have subjected myself to something like this. I still think there’s more to this story than is being told. Anytime there’s a theft involved, the sheriff or police are called to the location. This girl should have told her manager to put it where the sun don’t shine. I would’ve walked off the job. There was no one in that place who could’ve physically detained her. Now tell me how the stupid manager got $1.1 m? She was a party to the crime. She was probably terminated. So it was a lose/lose for McDonald’s. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Agree with you on how the manager got 1.1 million dollars, I’m still scratching my head on that one, she should be in jail.
I’d agree with you but the fact the same jury awarded the manager who was a party to all of this $1.1 million doesn’t make me confident in their intelligence. She shouldn’t have been awarded a dime.
I agree with you about her, she should have not only not received a dime, put probably should have done a little time. I thought she lost the 1.1 million, but your point about the jury decision makes sense. It was a different jury though but I agree they weren’t too bright.
Let's face it,
4-5 of you work for a major cooperation.
It must be worth it that 4 of the 5 take the humiliation, and one walks away with millions of dollars; shared amongst the others.
Okay, you're in a training class and you come across this gem: "Also, since November 2001, the McDonald's Operations and Training Manual has contained a prohibition against strip searches."
You are NOT going to remember this? I don't believe it. It would be like having "Do not allow elephants inside your restaurant" or "Space Aliens must show ID to accept their credit card". Of course you're going to remember that.
Hell, the janitor didn't have the training and he knew what to do with out it.
The girl who allowed this to happen to her was brought up terribly naive and helpless. At 16 you can stand up for yourself, if not, bad things happen to you. Maybe that's a life lesson, she ought to learn, rather than be paid lifetime wages for being weak, stupid and helpless.
I’d need to see several badges before turning an employee over to the authorities, never mind taking orders from a voice.
She should have been paying restitution, not getting rewarded.
So I go back to my original statement, the jury was irresponsible.
>>Unfortunately for the young victim, McDonald’s will appeal this decision for as long as they can. It is also sickening that McDonald’s defense was that the victim was also to blame because she should have known it was a hoax.<<
She should have known it was a hoax.
Didn’t she give a blow job because a of an order from a phone call?
McD is too blame too for not warning since this was a pattern.
Everybody was stupid.
>>They had a replay of this on 20/20 last night and McDonald’s claimed that they sent out a voice mail box warning to all the stores. You would think that as big as a corporation that McDonald’s is that they would cover their ass by having something in writing. Funny how the only person who looked smart in this whole ordeal was the janitor who was a high school drop out.<<
this is the first time ever I wish I’d seen 20/20...
Not to mention - was there not one person there who reads the internet. Way before I’d let a girl get strip searched like that I’d call 911.
Not 20/20 but this is the Prime Time episode - it has much of the survelience video - un-frickin’believable...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=802122655
I might have to back track a little bit, I believe it was on 20/20 but it could have been Prime Time.
This is a testament to how we raise our kids. Mom and dad working, busy with whatever, kids in front of the TV, video games, ipod, brain turned off to a throbbing house music beat. No life skills are learned today by American kids. If they were, the kids would say, upon being asked to strip, wait, let's call the police now, I want a marked cruiser outside and a policeman with a badge here now. While we're at it, let's call my parents. They can call our family attorney. OK? That's before I take off one stitch of clothes. I don't have kids but if I did they'd know when to say that.
I am blown away by this comment and comments like this on this thread. She was a *child*, "just turned 18" and working her first job! Don't you think the MANAGER had some responsibility? The girl's quote from the article:
"I was bawling my eyes out and literally begging them to take me to the police station because I didn't do anything wrong,"
The manager took her clothes, her keys and her cell phone - this is the adult in charge that did this to *HER*. If a robber walks into a bank and threatens you or a man walks into your home and forces your wife to strip and give him her keys and her cell phone would you still think the same way? It's no different. I bet if this had happend to your daughter you wouldn't be blaming her.
I cannot for the life of me understand how you can hold the victim responsible for being victimized by someone in authority over them. And the manager that did this to her was awarded 1.1 million - SHE should be in jail.
Does the bank robber analogy really work? They usually come in with guns and are in a hurry to leave with money. These people didn't have guns.
My wife and I have talked about it, she doesn't open the door for anyone when I'm not home, and when I am home, I am within reach of firearms.
As I said, I don't have kids. But if I did, I've known long before this incident came up, that I'd brief the child before going out, this is a sick world, if anything seems wrong, you call me, call the police, if you can't call you ask someone else to call, scream fire, pull the fire alarm. And we would study this incident to learn that you don't take anyone's word over the phone that they are police.
“No, your mama.”
Don’t quit your day job...assuming you have one.
You are such a witty guy.
I didn’t fully understand the scope of what happened. I didn’t know about the manager's boyfriend and the plaintiff performing oral sex on him. I no longer think the jury is dumb. I think they are corrupt.
Sounds like a big scam was going on and a small town jury allowed its fellow citizens to win the jury lottery. How else to explain the MANAGER winning a settlement.
Another reason for tort law reform.
"You mean, hold the mayo."
If it were a Burger King she would have been asked to hold the pickle!
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