We may have a winner in the frivolous-lawsuit game: Shelley Lynn (possibly her real name), a former-McDonald's-employee-turned-prostitute at Nevada's Chicken Ranch brothel, is suing the burger behemoth, as well as her ex-husband, for forcing her into the life of a sex worker.
The story begins in 1982, when Lynn began working as a cashier at a McDonald's in Arroyo Grande, California. Fast-forward three years, and Lynn begins dating franchise manager Keith Handley, whose company, Ivernia, owned the franchise where the couple worked. (The two would wed in 1988, divorcing shortly thereafter.) Not long into the relationship, Handley, claims Lynn, had her terminated out of the blue. As the complaint states, "At the time Handley began dating Lynn… Handley ordered Mr. McGrady, one of his managers, to terminate Lynn for insubordination which was sham."
The motive for the firing? Handley, uh, apparently wanted Lynn to work as a prostitute in near-by Nevada. And he was able to accomplish this plan by "emotionally and psychologically" forcing Lynn into a life of sex work, abetted by measly pay, a poor health-care plan, and no grievance system through which to address abusive superiors. Or so the complaint alleges.
More complaint:
"[McDonald's] failed to properly supervise and train Handley, as a direct result of which Handley used his position as an employee and conspired with his corporation Iveria to coerce and bribe two of Ivernia's employees to make false statements against Lynn during Handley's dissolution and to suppress relevant evidence he had disclosed about himself. Handley also engaged in pimping operations out of the McDonald's franchises he owned."
So here we are, all because Mickey D's "failed to conduct a due diligence into the moral character of Handley when it sold franchises to him." According to the lawsuit, Lynn is seeking "lost wages, special damages, compensatory damages for sex trafficking, negligent retention and supervision of franchisees, and racketeering."
Needless to say, none of this would have happened had Lynn worked at Burger King instead. I'm kind of at a loss here. Is it April 1st yet?