Wife's nude pics on lost phone end up online

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Dude, I don't know. If you leave your cell phone with nude pictures of your wife at a McDonald's, I think you've been pretty negligent.

As soon as McDonald's promised to hold onto the phone, all of that went right out the window. The safety of the phone and its contents became McDonald's responsibility.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Kevin

As soon as McDonald's promised to hold onto the phone, all of that went right out the window. The safety of the phone and its contents became McDonald's responsibility.

And can you really say that images from an unlocked cell phone left at a McDonald's are actually private anymore? What's his obligation in keeping his own facts private?

ETA: Do any of the news stories deal with how long the phone was at the McDonald's before the manager called?

EATA: I may regret saying this, but I'm going to record my suspicion that the husband and wife in this deal may end up being more responsible than it first appears. I'm just kind of suspicious of the claims.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Dude, I don't know. If you leave your cell phone with nude pictures of your wife at a McDonald's, I think you've been pretty negligent yourself. And can you really say that images from an unlocked cell phone left at a McDonald's are actually private anymore? What's his obligation in keeping his own facts private?

ETA: Do any of the news stories deal with how long the phone was at the McDonald's before the manager called?

Originally Posted by Kevin

As soon as McDonald's promised to hold onto the phone, all of that went right out the window. The safety of the phone and its contents became McDonald's responsibility.

I had the very same thought you did UGAalum94.
The only comment I have seen was in one of the links I posted above:
"and he left his cell phone at the fast food restaurant while leaving. The store manager assured him that the phone would be kept safe for his retrieval when he called to locate it, but almost immediately, the photos that she had sent to his phone were uploaded onto a website where users discovered her identity, address, and phone number."

So the question(s) would be:
What happened between the time the Sherman's' lost care, custody, and control of the phone and when the store manager took control of the phone and secured it. And how did he secure it.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Tinia2

I had the very same thought you did UGAalum94.
The only comment I have seen was in one of the links I posted above:
"and he left his cell phone at the fast food restaurant while leaving. The store manager assured him that the phone would be kept safe for his retrieval when he called to locate it, but almost immediately, the photos that she had sent to his phone were uploaded onto a website where users discovered her identity, address, and phone number."

So the question(s) would be:
What happened between the time the Sherman's' left and when the store manager took control of the phone and secured it. And how did he secure it.

Yep, and one of the story says that on the website where the pictures were uploaded that employees admitted to doing it. On the one hand, maybe they are the stupidest employees in the world. On the other, if you wanted three million dollars. . .

ETA: maybe this McDonald's is the most boring place in the world to work, but who takes the time to scroll though images on random cell phones? I guess we'll see if it goes to court.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Yep, and one of the story says that on the website where the pictures were uploaded that employees admitted to doing it. On the one hand, maybe they are the stupidest employees in the world. On the other, if you wanted three million dollars. . .

Agree. Sort of brings to mind all of the stories from the past few years of school kids sending "provocative/adult" photos to their friends and then wondering and getting upset that they were sent to everyone else.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Tinia2

Agree. Sort of brings to mind all of the stories from the past few years of school kids sending "provocative/adult" photos to their friends and then wondering and getting upset that they were sent to everyone else.

Or the celebrities stories about stuff like this.

It's one thing if your locked phone gets hack or your email account is hacked, but something else entirely when you leave the unlocked phone in a public place.

I can see getting angry at the person who violated your trust if you sent a photo to one person and it ended up all over. I can even see that being regarded as the revealing "private facts" thing Kevin mentioned.

But leaving your accessible phone someplace, not so much.

And what I really think we can all expect from this is that now if you did happen to leave your phone at McDonald's, even if you have no concerns about photos on it, the policy will become that they refuse to secure it for you for fear of created liability.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

ETA: maybe this McDonald's is the most boring place in the world to work, but who takes the time to scroll though images on random cell phones? I guess we'll see if it goes to court.

When I worked at Target and we found cell phones, we tried our best to find numbers labeled home, mom, or dad, so that the person who lost it could be notified by a family member if they didn't have their home number in the phone.

I'm not saying that we went through their pictures (we didn't that I know of), but I do know that employees do scroll through the contacts lists of phones. Perhaps his wife's number had a caller picture, and it was one of the racy ones, which prompted the employee to look for more. Not that their behavior is excusable in any way.

Random: My boyfriend and I met while we were both in school, working at Target. He worked in Loss Prevention. Some guy returned an iPod in the wrong case (he returned a lower gig iPod, I think 36g, in a higher gig box, probably 80 at the time) so it became a loss prevention issue. The moron left stuff on the iPod that he returned, so they were scrolling through it - 90% of it was porn! It became a huge issue and had to be turned over to the police to make sure that none of it was kiddie porn.

Moral: If you leave your cell phone, iPod, etc. places, or you return storable media electronics to the store, make sure you don't have anything on it you wouldn't want your grandma to see!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

But leaving your accessible phone someplace, not so much.

It wasn't accessible when it was in the store's possession. Agents of the store actually took the phone and used it for a tortuous purpose while it was entrusted to them.

That's definitely not the same as it being left lying around. All of the plaintiff's responsibility to look after his own stuff evaporates when the manager says "Sure, I'll keep this until you can pick it up."

And what I really think we can all expect from this is that now if you did happen to leave your phone at McDonald's, even if you have no concerns about photos on it, the policy will become that they refuse to secure it for you for fear of created liability.

Or more likely -- they'll have the manager somehow secure the item. If it was in a locked desk or something of that nature (I'm sure there's a locked area somewhere), then they'll not be breaching their duty of reasonable care with regard to whatever's in their possession.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

It wasn't accessible when it was in the store's possession. Agents of the store actually took the phone and used it for a tortuous purpose while it was entrusted to them.

That's definitely not the same as it being left lying around. All of the plaintiff's responsibility to look after his own stuff evaporates when the manager says "Sure, I'll keep this until you can pick it up."

Or more likely -- they'll have the manager somehow secure the item. If it was in a locked desk or something of that nature (I'm sure there's a locked area somewhere), then they'll not be breaching their duty of reasonable care with regard to whatever's in their possession.

Story line, of what I have seen, is a bit cloudy.
"Seems that the McDonalds manager, Aaron Brummley, who had promised to keep the phone secure until Phil Sherman could retrieve it, got curious and started ogling all of Mrs. Sherman."
"Brummley called Phillip Sherman’s mother using his cell phone and said he would keep the cell phone until Phillip Sherman could come pick it up. Before Phillip Sherman could return to the restaurant to get the phone, his wife received text messages from his phone about her racy photos."
"After Tina Sherman learned that it would take 72 hours to completely delete the photos from the site where they were uploaded, she became more mortified, cried uncontrollably and continued to suffer emotional distress, the lawsuit claims."
Yet we have this:"I'm guessing the pics were posted online by some pubescent teen workers at McDonald's, who would also have been the most tech-savvy. That fact is unclear, but it is clear the said employees admitted on the website where they posted the nude photos of Tina Sherman that they retrieved the photos from a cell phone found in the restaurant."

And just think of all the additional emotional distress that has now been caused.

[Kevin]

What's cloudy? I don't see how any of those facts do anything to mitigate the manager's responsibility. If an employee stole the phone and put the pictures on the internet, then that's the manager's fault for not securing the phone somehow. Like I said, I'm sure there's a safe or a locking desk drawer somewhere on the premises.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

What's cloudy? I don't see how any of those facts do anything to mitigate the manager's responsibility. If an employee stole the phone and put the pictures on the internet, then that's the manager's fault for not securing the phone somehow. Like I said, I'm sure there's a safe or a locking desk drawer somewhere on the premises.

Well:
Was it the Manager himself?
Was it an employee a)before the manager got hold of it?
b) after the manager got hold of it?
Was it another customer?
Was it the Shermans' themselves?

I think we all have seen delays in data transfers, up loads and downloads. I have received voice mail messages the next day.
CSI geeks will be looking at logs in order to get a time line.

As for a safe, I know the retail store I worked at years ago had one.
And that is where we put things like credit cards that were found.
Now thinking about that, management would have no control what happened to cards prior to getting them.

[Kevin]

Again, nothing there to help McDonald's. We know the pictures were uploaded by an employee, so when that happened is not really material.

It's a good lawsuit. The plaintiffs are more than likely entitled to something here.

[Tinia2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Again, nothing there to help McDonald's. We know the pictures were uploaded by an employee, so when that happened is not really material.

It's a good lawsuit. The plaintiffs are more than likely entitled to something here.

Do we know?? All we know is what was claimed on a web site as reported in a blog. I have yet to see the original and from what I have seen, it is gone from public view.
All options are open for investigation by the authorities, claimant's and defendants.
And yes, given my families background in P&C insurance and law, I agree with you. They most likely will get something out of this. And if it is by way of trial, it maybe followed by years of appeals (remember the coffee case?).
Or perhaps an out of court settlement.
However, are they entitled to something? ???????

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Tinia2

However, are they entitled to something? ???????

If the facts given are true, then yes, probably.

Let me just put it this way -- if a client came into my office (and I actually did intake interviews, which I don't) and gave me these facts, I would, without hesitation, agree to take the case.

[AGDee]

I would think the difficulty would be in determining who had access to the phone before the employees found it. If someone left their phone on a table in a fast food restaurant, anybody could have gotten a hold of it.