A story out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, troubles me. Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned a difficult lesson after he left his cell phone behind at a McDonald’s restaurant. It seems that Mr. Sherman had nude photos of his wife stored on his phone. And, the photos ended up online.
Now he and his wife, Tina, are suing the McDonald’s Corp., the franchise owner and the store manager. The suit was filed Friday and seeks a jury trial and $3 million in damages for suffering, embarrassment, and the cost of having to move to a new home.
The suit says that Phillip Sherman left the phone the Fayetteville store in July and that employees promised to secure it until he returned.
Manager Aaron Brummley declined to comment.
Now, I will say that whoever put the pictures online was wrong. There’s no doubt that they should be dismissed from their job. I have no doubt that the Manager Brummley should apologize for the actions of his employees. But, a lawsuit? Three million dollars? And, a new house?
Give me a break. Did Mr. Sherman ever think that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to store naked pictures of his wife on his phone? Doesn’t he have some responsibility here?
Unfortunately, in America today, few people own up to their own responsibility—it’s always someone else’s fault.
Tell you what Mr. Sherman—free Big Macs for life! Or, how about free salads or ice cream cones? How about free happy meals? And, maybe one of the gifts in the happy meal will be a chain to tie your next cell phone to your belt!
