A not so clean McJob

A jury awarded $6.1 million Friday to a woman who was forced to strip for a search in a McDonald's back office after someone called the restaurant posing as a police officer reporting a theft.

Louise Ogborn, who was 18 during the 3 1/2-hour ordeal, was forced to undress and perform sexual acts with the boyfriend of a former assistant manager at the restaurant while the man was on the phone with the bogus caller, according to a surveillance video shown to jurors during the four-week trial.

Ogborn, now 21, sued McDonald's Corp., claiming the fast-food giant failed to warn her and other employees about the caller who already struck other McDonald's stores and other fast-food restaurants across the country. She sought $200 million in damages, but McDonald's argued the company was not responsible and was being sued because of its deep pockets. The jury award $5 million in punitive damages and about $1.1 million in compensatory damages. McDonald's was evaluating whether to appeal the decision, a spokesman said.

The caller to the Mount Washington restaurant impersonated a police officer when he gave a description of a young, female employee accused of stealing from a customer, the lawsuit said. According to testimony, Ogborn fit the description, and the caller instructed an employee to conduct the search.

Donna Summers, a former McDonald's assistant manager who also sued the fast-food chain, led the strip search at the direction of the caller. Summers and Kim Dockery, another assistant manager, were named as defendants in Ogborn's suit, but the jury ruled they did not have to pay any damages.

Summers was placed on probation for a misdemeanor conviction in the case. Her former fiance, Walter Nix Jr., is serving five years in prison for sexually abusing Ogborn during the ordeal.
Text: AP. Photo: APImages.