Falsely Accused of Stealing in Public - Deframation?

Status
Not open for further replies.

kkbarnard

New Member
My son (18) and his girlfriend (17)went to eat at a local chain restaruant in our town on Sunday around 3:00. They were seated by a waitress and they both noticed that she seemed hostile toward them. They ordered their food and noticed that various people from the staff walked by them and gave them dirty looks. When it came time to deliver the meal the waitress came over a mumbled and said they need to pay the bill right now. My son thought he heard her say you will pay this bill this week something like that but just let it go thinking that the waitresss was cranky. Him and his girlfriend decided that she must be leaving soon and wanted to take her tip with her. They soon realized that she was still waiting no other customers and refilling drinks, asking people if their food was okay etc...she did not come back to their table. After they finished eating a manager came over and asked my soon to scoote over so that he could sit with them. He threw a bill on the table and asked for them to pay the bill from Halloween. My son asked what he was talking about, the manager said that the two of them and another couple were at the restaruant on Halloween and they left without paying. My son said that they were not in the resteraunt that day that in fact, him and his girlfriend went to another resteraunt and then went to her house. At this point people are looking at them and they are very uncomfortable. The waitress comes over sticks her finger in his girlfriends face and says ("and you ordered the same thing that day") she is about ready to cry at this point. My son asked the manager if he was accusing them of stealing. My son said for him to call the police right now because him and his girlfriend did not do this. He then said that why would I come to a restaraunt a week later if we did this? The manager said he had two witnesses. My son said please bring them over so we can talk to them. Finally it was getting louder and people were watching....my son was so embarrassed as well as his girlfriend. He finally said to his girlfriend, let's go we shouldn't be treated like this. They immediately went to his girlfriends house and her mom called the manager. She spoke to him and he apoligized but would not have the waitress apologize. The mom told her that the kids did not do this and this behavior was unacceptable. These kids were so embarrased in their hometown. The one of the manager mentioned that this was a felony and that two waitresses said it was the kids. My son got in touch with me and I called and spoke to a manager and she said that this was a felony. The next day both mothers called corporate. I was told by the call center that this was unacceptable and that she would have an Operations manager call me. Both his girlsfriends mom and I were contacted my the General Manager of the location. He was all apologetic and wanted to know what we wanted. I told him that the kids should be reimbursed for the meal that they ate that was so lousy with service and they should get an apology from the waitress and manager in person. He would not comply. During the conversation it came up that this theft happened at 1:30 - 2:00 on Halloween and that the kids left in a red coupe. Also, that they had video footage of the back of heads of the 4 kids. We asked to see the footage and they did not comply. The girlsfriends mom had the same conversation but the time of day did not come up. Then we talked and realized that her daughter worked until 3:00 on that day and my son was home with us until he met her at work. My son drives a large maroon suburban and her daughter drives a small silver toyota. This infuriated us because (not that we had doubts) but this was proof that it was not our kids. His girlfriends mom called corporate again and asked to speak to an operations manager which is what we wanted to speak with in the first place. He was rude and basically accused the kids of doing this....told her that he had two witnesses.....when asked if the waitress would apologize to the kids was told that it would never happen. These kids were bullied and are still very upset from this incident. We are so upset with this company (which is a major food chain) and these people involved. Do we have a suit?
 
I agree with Jacksgal about it being difficult to read, but I think you have a beef. Slander is a hard nut to crack, but you aren't going to try to recover much. The managers in corporate aren't paying attention. This is why they should talk to legal as soon as humanly possible. All that had to be done on this was to apologize and comp a meal for your son and girlfriend. They have acted like idiots.

If you really feel harmed send a letter to their registered agent. On numerous occasions I have written on how to do this. Go to the secretary of state's website and look up the company. Threaten to sue to the registered agent. When an attorney calls you demand a settlement of apologies from the lame manager and waitress and $1500 for your trouble. My guess is that you will get it. Good luck.
 
You don't have any kind of suit. They did not make a police report of the incident when it happened and will never be able to prove who it was at this point. You are the one placing many of the phone calls... that pretty much takes the punch out of any claim you might have had, but there really isn't one.
If you are unhappy with that restaurant then don't go there anymore.
This argument is incredibly weak from both sides. Everyone should just drop it and move along.
 
Oh Mightymoose you really aren't a lawyer are you!! ;) A lawyer can find a suit anywhere. It is true there is no suit for false arrest, there MAY be a weak suit for slander, but you can always sue for Intentional affliction of emotional distress.

Even better, to accomplish what I told them to do you don't even have to sue. It would cost them more than that to answer a suit for entitled: THEY WERE MEAN TO ME! Get the point?
 
Oh Mightymoose you really aren't a lawyer are you!! ;) A lawyer can find a suit anywhere. It is true there is no suit for false arrest, there MAY be a weak suit for slander, but you can always sue for Intentional affliction of emotional distress.

Even better, to accomplish what I told them to do you don't even have to sue. It would cost them more than that to answer a suit for entitled: THEY WERE MEAN TO ME! Get the point?

MM is not giving "legal advice" he is giving an opinion! His status with the bar does matter here. This opinion might be shared with any Attorney the OP might talk to. The purpose here is to give the OP the benefit of our knowledge, backgrounds, experince etc. No one here is acting as an Attorney giving "legal" advice. We are acting as posters on message boards where all advice can be taken and used as OP sees fit. "Get the point"?
 
MM is not giving "legal advice" he is giving an opinion! His status with the bar does matter here. This opinion might be shared with any Attorney the OP might talk to. The purpose here is to give the OP the benefit of our knowledge, backgrounds, experince etc. No one here is acting as an Attorney giving "legal" advice. We are acting as posters on message boards where all advice can be taken and used as OP sees fit. "Get the point"?


Jacksgal, HELLO? It was a joke dear. Keep up.

His answer was technically correct. I was just pointing out the difference between the way a good cop looks at things (what he can prove) versus how an attorney looks at things (what he can get past Summary Judgment). My last statement was to show how ridiculous a suit can be and still be profitable: "He was mean to me!"


Did you notice the ;) beside the statement? WHOOSH right over your head. I'm sure Moose appreciates you defending him but I wasn't attacking. Sorry.
 
Thanks

Thanks for everyone's help. I guess we will just avoid going to the restaurant in the future and share their experience with our friends. It was just unfortunate experience for the kids. It was stressful for them because they really did not do it and were upset because they were treated so rudely.
 
Oh Mightymoose you really aren't a lawyer are you!! ;) A lawyer can find a suit anywhere. It is true there is no suit for false arrest, there MAY be a weak suit for slander, but you can always sue for Intentional affliction of emotional distress.

Even better, to accomplish what I told them to do you don't even have to sue. It would cost them more than that to answer a suit for entitled: THEY WERE MEAN TO ME! Get the point?

I actually think Mightymoose's comments are usually very good and hit some good practical points. While there might technically be a case, this is a "law school" answer, unfortunately. If the case isn't worth bringing, then I think what the Moose is trying to say is that there is no case at all. Just like Captain Jack said, "there are things a man can do and things a man cannot do." In this instance, if winning a battle means losing a war, it's probably not worth waging the war, even if you're right... unfortunate but must think of another creative remedy.

PS - There are mediocre lawyers too... being a lawyer doesn't make your argument any better!!! :D

PPS - Let's just make sure we all know that we're all keeping it friendly. ;)
 
I think everybody missed what I was saying!

I wasn't downing Moose's statement.

I was making a point that Moose is a Policeman and looks at things from a can we win this case point of view.

I was making FUN OF LAWYERS because they don't look at things that way. If they can be a big enough PAIN they can "win" without a case.

You guys understand what I mean?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top