I read this very sad entry on a friend's blog today. I can't believe people would be so stupid as to basically sexually assault a young woman based on instructions from a "cop" over the phone. And McDonald's response is just amazingly stupid. Sodomy at McDonald's I hope everyone thinking about working or even eating at McDonalds will read this very disturbing story. This is a long story so let me summarize. Louise Ogborn, an 18-year-old McDonald's employee, was strip searched by her assistant manager and forced to sodomize her assistant manager's fiancee. It all started when a con man impersonating a police officer called the McDonald's branch in Mount Washington, Kentucky, and accused Louise of stealing a purse. Assistant manager Donna Jean Summers bought the story and told Louise that she must cooperate or else risk losing her job and going to jail. After subjecting her to a degrading strip search, Donna brought in her fiancee, Walter Nix, to further "interrogate" Louise. Nix told Louise to perform oral sex on him, and threatened to hit her if she did not comply. All of this was done, supposedly, under the instructions of the police impersonator. Nix was charged with sodomy and assault, but has plea bargined his charges down to "sexual misconduct," for wich he will probably serve no jail time. In typical corporate fashion, McDonald's actually blames Louise, saying that her injuries, "if any," were caused by her failure to realize the caller wasn't a real police officer. McDonald's attorney also suggested that although Louise had no clothes, she could have walked out of the office, but stayed voluntarily to clear her name. When I first heard of this story I thought it was a hoax. No way people would be stupid enough to blidnly follow a stranger's instructions over the phone, I thought. After some reasearch, it appears all the rumors I heard on the chat rooms were true; below are several news articles describing this horrid incident. The articles are very long, so I highlighted the most despicable parts in red for quick reference.
I'd like to see the legitimate links to this news report, as it sounds pretty made up to me. Snopes.com doesn't have anything on it yet.
Why is anyone surpised aobut McDonald's response. The only thing they are worried about is which promotion is going to get you in there to eat their unhealthy, addictive food.
Thanks. Sorry about forgetting the links. The links are on the bottom of each story; I didn't copy-paste the whole story since the first one was so long. Here's the link to the first story quoted in the blog: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051009/NEWS01/510090392 Is the Courier Journal a real newspaper? Part of me WISH this story were not true. It is just too fantastic to believe. But that Nix guy did plead guilty and the acts were caught on surveillance cameara, accoding to the Courier. About McDonalds: I know McDonalds is all about making money. But in this case, clearly it wasn't the fault of the victim. I could see them blaming the manager, but come on, blaming the 18-year-od girl?
McDonalds is blaming all of them for being stupid. The maintenance man is the one who called the callers BS and he hung up. The 18 yo girl is now suing McD.
That's true, McDonald's did pour out a lof of blame in all directions. Kind of funny how the author kept focusing on the fact that the maintenance man was a 9th-grade dropout. I hope instead of being known as a school dropout he'll from now on be known as a freaking HERO! The maintenance guy shows us that common sense in a organization often exists at the bottom of the command chain instead of the top.
LOL! I was about to say the same thing I can't blame anyone but those who got fooled by it, they must be some of the dumbest people in the world
Actually this isn't a just a Kentucky thing. A few years ago i remember watching something on tv about the same thing happening across the country. The guy would call from a phonebooth to see if the manager was in or if it was just one of those young manager type people. Then impersonate an officer and ask for a strip search. Again, this I saw a couple of years ago so I have no links, but I do remember it being an FBI case so perhaps if you want verification you can go and look up the FBI wanted persons page or something.
I have a hard time believing that all these cases are done by just one person, though. I think there must be copycats.
I assure you the Courier Journal is legitimate and is the daily newspaper in Louisville. Been to "Looavul" many many times. I read both articles and it was worth it. If the source here wasn't a legitimate newspaper, I absolutely would never believe it. Stupidity is not a strong enough word to describe these people. I do have a lot of sympathy for the gullible young kid.
Thanks for the confirmation on the news source. I think it will take a long time before that poor kid could hold down any sort of job again.