If this is true, I find Mc Donalds employees of this particular branch to be rude and ignorant.
QUOTE |
A woman has filed a lawsuit against a McDonald's franchise, claiming that employees in two suburban Chicago restaurants refused to serve her because a birth defect forces her to use her feet as hands. Dawn Larson was born with Holt-Oram Syndrome, which left her with diminutive hands just six inches from her shoulder, according to a report Monday in the Chicago Sun-Times. "I drank my baby bottle with my feet," she told the paper. "Nobody ever taught me how to do it, I just did it. I can ride a regular 10-speed bike. I can swim. It has not been a problem in my life at all. It didn't stop me from having four boys. I've never dropped one of them." In her lawsuit filed last week against the Rockford, Ill., McDonald's chain, Larson claims staff refused to serve her after she paid by credit card with her left foot for $23.59 of food last November, the paper reported. "What's the matter with you? . . . You ain't got no arms. ... Let me see your arms," an employee allegedly told Larson with a tone of disgust, withdrawing the bags of food from Larson's outstretched foot, the paper said, citing the lawsuit. |
The problem with places like McDonalds is that you will get one or two people who cannot keep their opinions and comments to themselves. I have experienced this many times as the spectator and the customer being not pleased to the point that they ask to speak to the manager. Maybe this case will force better customer service all around!
Very sad! The lady was paying for her meal with a credit card and they chose to discriminate her because she had tiny arms! How insensitive! I hope she is successful in her lawsuit. I think Mc Donalds is becoming synonymous with terrible service! I seriously doubt that this lawsuit would be enough to wake up management! Look at the string of complaints and lawsuits that they had to deal with this year only! Marijuana in a happy meal, a rat biting a customer and the list goes on and on. I think this is an all time low for McDonalds.
CHA CHING!
If this is true, this lady is about to get paid and paid BIG. By the time that her lawyer is done either settling out of court of filleting Ronald McDonald in court, she will be able to afford to have someone carry her baby bottle and credit card for her. The punative damages for mental cruelty will be mind boggling! The only question will be how many numbers in front of the 6 zeros is sufficient. The part-time teenage workers will be fired from this rewarding job and move on to another rewarding job at say...Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Hardee's, Arby's, Papa John's, Domino's, Burger King, etc... The owner/owners of the franchise is/are going to get skewered.
It would be nice if she could go after the kids...because that is where I think the biggest chance for change would be. Heck, maybe after she gets paid by McDonalds she can go after the kids too. I would love for her to win a settlement where she could say...have the mannerless kids help her for a year as punishment (kind of like her personal assistants). There seems to be enough of the rude employees...maybe one for each day of the week!
Edited: Vincenzo on 3rd Jul, 2007 - 2:42am
Vincenzo, you have a comical way of writing, but in the end do you agree with her suing or not? I think this happened before and she let it go, having it done again means it is time to stand up and take notice. I cannot blame her really, I am sure she has taken enough stick all her life.
Yes, I do believe she should sue. Unfortunately, suing the franchise owners (who did not insult her - but do own the establishment where she was insulted) will only result in her getting money and wont change the lives of the insensitive idiots that actually did this to her in the least. As I said, they will be are have been let go and will be soon to pick up another dime a dozen job in the glorious world of fast food service. Will it change the franchise management...probably not. The kids are already told that this is against McDonald policy when the first start working...it is in the handbook. They basically have to hire anyone who is willing to work because they cannot get anyone to take those jobs, so I really don't see much of a change happening here. Anyone who has been to the states can tell you that they are always hiring at fast food places. If they pay more, then that cuts directly into the margin, which is already pretty small. So, she might actually be successful at shutting down what seems to be one of her favorite eating establishments.
So...I say yes to suing the franchise, but I would really like for her to sue the kids that did this to her. Imagine if a couple of those kids get hit performing community service (maybe for her) or hit with a stiff fine. You just KNOW that the word of that gets out and the next kid that takes her order will remember it. See it was COOL for these kids to make fun of her in their and their peers eyes. If you want to make it uncool, you gotta go after them, because suing McDonalds effects these kids - zero.
Edited: Vincenzo on 3rd Jul, 2007 - 3:04am
I believe if she sues the kids only then there is not much to be gained - monetarily or justification for future episodes. However, by suing the employers she is setting a precedent for others who DO NOT take interest in what their employers say or do - in other words they just hire them because they are willing to accept minimum wage. On the other hand this can mean higher food costs passed on to the consumer.
I see that quite differently. If you want to stop this behavior, going after McDonalds will solve nothing. Now you will get paid will for these kids ignorance, don't doubt it for a minute. Maybe that is enough for her. But does it change what these kids think is cool or fun? Nope. Now hit the bunch them down with some serious community service or really stiff fines and guess what...not only do they know they screwed up, but their buddies know it and their buddies buddies know it and their buddies buddies buddy knows it... Not to mention, the local news will be all over this one. The next time that lady goes into a store, no one is going to insult her.
Going after McDonalds gets you paid for their rudeness. But what is McDonalds going to do in the future? "Hi, thanks for coming in for the interview...before we start, are you rude...do you make fun of the handicapped?" Of course, they will say no...they want that $7/hr and they don't want to be bothered to walk across the street to the other fast food place to get the $7/hr. So even if they are rude and unmannered, they pass the test and get hired. McDonalds could hire only adults to deal with the customers and put the kids on burger duty and cleaning the lobby, but $7/hr isn't going to get a lot of adults interested in persuing McDonalds as gainful employment. Pay more and we pay more and we really don't like paying what we are currently paying for a BigMac now...so how reasonable is that thought. McDonalds could also do a 90 day testing (which they do) of the kids ability before continuing their work. Basically, in your first 90 days of work, McDonalds (all other places in general) can fire you for pretty much any reason. They kids could put on name tags (which they do) and McDonalds could ask customers to fill out surveys on the service. Kids that don't matchup can be fired for anything the supervisor doesnt like and anything that the customers dont like. But guess what, customers in general do not fill any of these things out...dont have the time. The only time they do fill these things out is if they just like doing it (rarity or a professional complainer) or they really had bad service.
I am sure that as soon as the names of the kids or probably more likely the date and time the insult occurred, that shift of young teenage "men" are going to be unemployeed, as it is obvious that this is the first the management has heard of it, so they will have responded properly. Again, I am not against suing the franchise, but sue the franchise knowing that you are just getting paid for the bad service. If you want to change things, there are some young adults that need to defend their actions.