It's a gratuitous bailment/publication of private facts case. Usually in these things, there are some damages. Unless the man's wife is a notorious slut, he's probably entitled to something, as is the wife. Now $3 million??? I don't know anything about the Arkansas pleading code, but that could very well be a threshold amount to get on a certain docket or just a ploy to make the defense lawyers to consider a quick and private settlement... who knows which?
The legal test here is pretty easily met. What you have here is a gratuitous bailment, solely for the benefit of the bailor. The duty of care here would be that the bailee not be grossly negligent. The bailee here, as far as I can tell was not just grossly negligent, but wilfully negligent (I mean the McDonald's employee didn't just accidently brush the phone with his elbow causing the photos to be posted online)... the pictures apparently harmed their reputations, God knows what else.
This is a pretty easy verdict for the plaintiff. Probably not for $3 million, but who knows what might happen with a Fayetville jury?
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