Q: Is McDonald’s really being sued for 1.5 million dollars for denying a customer a napkin?
A: Oh Ronald McDonald, you continue to be the butt of every legal joke (Disclaimer: I hate clowns). Between the “beef fries” fiasco, (where Mickey D’s admitted beef flavoring is added to their fries that they boasted as vegetarian in advertisements, resulting in payment to vegetarian groups of over 10 million dollars in a settlement), and the “hot coffee” fiasco (where a 79 year old woman was awarded 2.9 million dollars in damages when she spilled hot coffee on her lap causing third degree burns), McDonald’s has had a rough time with the US court system.
But who lives in the past, right? We have a new, even more outrageous lawsuit to joke about. The NAPKIN suit. All the headlines scream that McDonald’s is being sued over a napkin. However, that’s not the whole story. I was able to obtain a copy of the actual complaint* filed in the case, which explains the Plaintiff’s basis for the suit. Usually, outrageous lawsuits are blamed on the lawyers…. but, for once, my brethren are safe. This is a pro se lawsuit, meaning the Plaintiff filed suit on his own – without a lawyer.
According to the Plaintiff, after being seated with his food, he approached and asked for more napkins. Allegedly, the manager denied him more napkins because he already put them in the bag. Plaintiff alleges that he said “I should have went to eat at the Jack-in-the-Box, because I didn’t come here to argue over napkins, I came here to eat.” Allegedly, the manager started yelling, and Plaintiff asked if he was being yelled at because he was Black. Allegedly, the Defendant responded “You People.” Plaintiff alleges he suffered severe emotional damages and should be compensated to the tune of 1.5 million dollars.
All things considered, I don’t think the lawsuit goes very far, or at least it wouldn't under Illinois law. His claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, discrimination, slander, and defamation would probably be dismissed for failure to state a claim under the law. Based on his allegations, the conduct likely does not rise to an actionable claim and Plaintiff would have a lot of trouble proving his damages.
So what can be the takeaway from this, if anything? From an employment lawyer’s perspective, this suit is more about alleged discrimination and management responsiveness than the napkin. A proper employee response could have helped diffuse the situation, instead of helping ignite it. Implementing training programs, discrimination policies, and management response training are ways to avoid making a napkin into a million dollar lawsuit.
Jonathan
* View the filed complaint at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/mcdonalds-sued-customer-napkin_n_4877000.html?ir=Weird+News
Jonathan Boulahanis is an attorney in the Chicago office of Clark Hill PLC and is a leader of the firm’s Food and Beverage team. Since Jonathan can’t cook like his Italian mother and the fast food was going to his hips, he became a self-proclaimed foodie. As an attorney, he has made a commitment to serve the food and beverage industry, no pun intended, by representing restaurants, bars, individuals, and other food and beverage businesses with various legal issues as they arise. You can reach him by sending an email to submissions@shiftgig.com.
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The responses provided in this blog are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship between Jonathan Boulahanis or Clark Hill PLC and the user.
***This article was posted as part of a question and answer series that Jonathan Boulahanis is conducting with Shiftgig.com. The article, as well as all other articles in the series, can be found at http://www.shiftgig.com/articles.
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