A police officer is demanding compensation for a “slimy” prank two teenagers tried to pull off on him at a local McDonald’s franchise in Charles City, according to an Associated Press news report.
Officer Josh Douglas has filed a lawsuit saying that when he was working nights two years ago, he went through the restaurant’s drive-through and ordered a chicken sandwich. But when he removed a lettuce leaf, just because he didn’t like that stuff, he went on to discover some mucous-like substance holding the vegetables together. When Douglas and another officer checked into it, they discovered that the two teens were imitating a similar in a movie where a state trooper orders a sandwich and the cook spits phlegm on it, the news agency reported.
The officer and his attorney filed a lawsuit May 8 after they were unable to reach a settlement with McDonald’s. The restaurant owner said that he took immediate action by firing the two employees. But what does the officer and his attorney want? An apology and here’s the important word – compensation.
Officer Douglas didn’t even take a bite out of that sandwich. He didn’t suffer any kind of real physical injury as a result. He didn’t fall sick. He wasn’t hospitalized. And despite that, the restaurant owner did what he was supposed to do. He has probably apologized profusely to this officer and had even fired the two pranksters.
So why do we have a lawsuit here? I call it a “blackmail lawsuit.” The franchise owner has done everything he possibly can in response to this incident. The officer is now basically telling the franchise owner that if he doesn’t pay up the matter will be dragged through the courts. Surely, the officer and especially his attorney know that they don’t have any real damages to support an even moderate verdict against the franchise owner. They are hoping that the owner will pay them some “hush money” to shut them up and make this whole thing go away.
Shame on both the attorney and the officer! I won’t accept the excuse that the attorney is just doing what his client asks him to do. That’s total BS. The attorney should know better than to get involved in a case that has no merit. He should use his independent judgment and use his time and talents wisely to help those clients who have suffered real injuries and have real bills to pay. But then, of course, he chose not to.
I wonder how many other attorneys turned down his case. I wonder how many attorneys laughed their heads off joking about the “slimming” lawsuit after the officer’s inquiry. Don’t get me wrong, what the McDonald’s employees did was totally wrong and any of us would be upset if it had happened to us, however, to take it this far against someone who was not responsible is just wrong.
We exclusively limit our legal services to the representation of very seriously injured personal injury clients and the families of wrongful death victims in the State of California. If you have been injured, please call me, John Bisnar of Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys at 1-800-259-6373.