McDonalds Being Sued For Nude Photos
Just heard this on CNN: A guy forgets his mobile in McDonalds and on the mobile is nude photos of his wife. He calls and asks the employees to keep the mobile safe, but guess what... the photos end up on the web - I wonder how that happened?
Now that is interesting. I have some photos of my wife but I do not carry them around with me. I guess if you travel a lot you might want to carry some around and a mobile device would be a easy way to carry them. I hope that who ever was responsible for going thru his phone and posting the pics is found and dealt with.
I remember seeing this article online and quite frankly, I think it is ridiculous. Why in the world would anyone have private pictures on their cell? These days, cell phones can be easily hacked into and those same nude pictures could be floating around and eventually find its way on the internet. I am shocked that the couple is actually suing which draws even more attention to this matter. If the guy knew he had such private pictures on his cell, I believe that he should have taken more precautions to ensure that his cell phone never gets lost. Perhaps he should have had a cell pouch so the cell phone would always be close to him. But if this was the case, sooner or later, someone would have robbed him and those pictures would be on the internet anyway.
I am truly amazed that they are even suing for relocation expenses since they are forced to move due to embarrassment. When people do crazy things like this, they should expect it to come back and haunt them, some day.
The man choosing to take photos of his wife is his business that doesnt give anyone to take a phone that is not theirs and publish it on the web. He has every right to sue them if he can prove that they had anything to do with it.
It is kind of interesting. They didnt take the phone. This guy left it there. They opened the phone and called his mother. I guess everyone would say that is OK. They looked all around apparently and found the photos. If this would have helped ID the owner, I guess it would have been ok to all. However, this guy has personal pornography on his cellphone and they get a glimpse. Honestly, if you are that careless with your wife's nude images, then if they take a peak, I have little sympathy for your situation. BUT, they then go on and post these photos on the internet. In addition, it was said on one of the reports that their names and address were included.
Houston...now we have a problem!
You are not allowed to post private pictures of someone else without their permission. Since I am imagining he gave no permission, we have a lawsuit.
They are claiming damages from humiliation that has forced them to move.
They are claiming damages from people calling up and harrassing them.
They are claiming damages from threatening emails.
The real question is ... Is it really McDonalds fault for this?
I Have no problem with them hanging all those involved in actually posting the material. That means...WHO POSTED IT and WHERE did the post it. Was it a site that you can post to freely? Did they have to send the material in by E-Mail and get it posted. If so, then that site is responsible - webmaster should be very concerned. Where I am not finding fault is the McDonalds Corp. I could be swayed, maybe (I would have to know more about the laws) if we find out that it was a Manager that actually did the posting or that the posting was done from McDonalds. Should the posting have taken place outside of McDonalds (meaning these people are NOW OFF DUTY and do not represent McDonalds...I cannot see how they are responsible for your naughty cellphone pictures. That would mean that McDonalds was responsible for everything their employees do outside of work.
Wanting cash for having to move because your pic ended up on the internet. Hello, the internet goes worldwide...where exactly is it you relocated that the pictures might not have reached?
I am totally OK with a good sized punitive damage settlement on this one for the humiliation...but I really dont think it should come from McDonalds, unless the posting to the internet was done at the store by store employees. They can also figure this out pretty easily because if they got the stuff off his phone, they likely sent themselves an email from his phone....check the records. If there is no record, then it is quite possible that it was sent directly from the McDonalds store.
The reason I am so focused on where and who did the posting is pretty simple. If they found the phone and everyone in the store got a good peek at the photos, do the couple move their home, do they get threatening calls and emails? Most likely...no...so it was the posting to the internet that really elevated the humiliation and harrassement that followed. It was also the posting that was the illegal activity. Just looking around someones lost cellphone is not illegal. You drop your wallet, I am not doing anything wrong by looking inside of it. If there is a nude picture of your wife in your wallet and I take it home, scan it and post it to the internet...we have a crime. Actually, multiple crimes in that example!
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Edited: Vincenzo on 26th Nov, 2008 - 1:58pm
I would be interested to see when the photos were uploaded. I would also like to see if they can prove it was a McDonalds employee. Even if they were off work if they are still in the store their behavior would be a reflection upon the store and the McDonalds corp. IF the photos were e-mailed to a private e-mail and later uploaded there is still a crime.
I agree. It was the uploading into the internet that was the crime. When and where did that take place? If an employee forwarded a email from the phone while on duty...I am not sure that is a crime. Bad taste...sure!
It is like the wallet thing. If you had a picture in your wallet and a employee made a copy of it and never shared it with anyone...was there a crime? I am not sure. Is it in bad taste. Definitely. If that scanned it and put it on the internet, that is definitely a crime, but the crime in that case didnt take place in McDonalds.
Now if it was an employee and they did forward the picture through the phone email, but to someone else...who then posted the pic to the internet. That would really complicate things and I can really see this happening.
I agree if they are off work but in the store McDonalds is in trouble. However, I think that if they forwarded the email to themselves/another person and then they uploaded it to the internet in their or their parents home....McDonalds is not at fault and the $3 million suit should go against the individual or individuals directly involved in the uploading of the picture.
If I were on the jury, there is no way that they are even sniffing 3 million for this case.