Vicious "Prank" Case Ends With Settlement

It sounds like one of those junior-high-school tall tales like the serial killer with the hook hand stalking the parked couple. Scary but cautionary tales meant to teach a lesson but not be believed.

Unfortunately, this one really happened, just outside Louisville.

With both sides unwilling to take their chances on an appeal, McDonald’s and strip-search victim Louise Ogborn have settled the lawsuit in which a jury awarded her $6.1 million.

The company Friday withdrew a petition in which it was asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to hear the case.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals in November upheld the award, which included $5 million in punitive damages, saying the company was “fully aware” of hoax calls to its restaurants, yet its management made “a conscious decision not to train or warn employees or managers about the calls.”

SNIP

The Court of Appeals said the punitive damages were justified because the evidence at a four week trial in Bullitt County in 2007 showed the company repeatedly “placed a higher value on corporate reputation than on the safety of its own employees” over the 10 years it knew about the hoax calls.

The company claimed that Ogborn was a victim of a “malicious hoax by individuals not representing McDonald's."

Ogborn, then 18, was methodically searched and forced to strip after a man pretending to be a police officer called the Mount Washington McDonald's on April 9, 2004, and accused her of stealing a customer's purse.

Following the caller's instructions, an assistant manager took away her clothes, cell phone and other belongings, and later called in her fiancé, who, following orders from the caller, forced Ogborn to perform a series of humiliating tasks, conducted a cavity search of her body and ultimately sexually abused her. Ogborn's ordeal lasted for three hours, until a maintenance worker and other employees realized the caller was a fraud.

David Stewart, a former prison guard from the Florida Panhandle who was accused of making the call, was acquitted on charges of impersonating an officer and soliciting sexual assault. Law-enforcement officers said at the time that they suspected him of making the other calls as well, but he was only charged in Bullitt County.

If you've got a strong constitution, here are the details of the "prank."