Ex-McDonald's employee awarded $6.1 million after strip search hoax

Last Updated: Friday, October 5, 2007 | 4:51 PM ET

CBC News

A Kentucky jury has ordered McDonald's Corp. to pay a 21-year-old former employee $6.1 million US after she was strip searched and sexually abused at one of their restaurants as part of a phone hoax.

Louise Ogborn, 21, had sued McDonald's Corp. for negligence, claiming it failed to warn her and other employees about a caller who already struck other McDonald's stores and other fast-food restaurants across the country.

In her lawsuit, Ogborn claimed that in April 2004, someone called McDonald's in Mount Washington, Ky., pretending to be a police officer.

The caller described a young, female employee and said she had stolen from a customer, the lawsuit said.

The caller instructed an employee to strip search the woman, according to the lawsuit.

Ogborn was forced to undress, endure a strip search and perform sexual acts, the lawsuit said

The events were captured on surveillance video, which was shown to jurors during the trial.

Attorneys for McDonald's argued that the restaurant was not responsible for the assault.

A former assistant manager, Donna Summers, was placed on probation for a misdemeanour conviction in relation to the incident.

Her former fiancé, Walter Nix Jr., is serving five years in prison for sexually abusing Ogborn during the 3½-hour search.

A Florida man, David Stewart, was charged with making the hoax phone call but acquitted last summer. Police have said the calls stopped after Stewart's arrest.