https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ex-florissant-employee-must-pay-steak-n-shake-80k-for-wormy-burger-post/article_de4f4bc7-bd98-5cf0-81a9-f4389b45ac83.html

ST. LOUIS - A federal jury on Thursday awarded $80,000 in damages to
Steak 'n Shake over a former employee's social media post claiming she
found worms in a hamburger at the restaurant in Florissant.

The jury awarded the company $70,000 in actual damages and $10,000 in
punitive damages against Melissa White following a three-day trial.
In a court filing before the trial, lawyers for the company said White
was mistaken when she believed she found worms in a burger that she
was preparing for herself on Jan. 5, 2018. What she actually saw was
fat that rose to the surface of the patty when White applied pressure
to it, according to the filing.

A district manager investigated and found no evidence of worms in
patties that he inspected. White was uncooperative, triggering a call
to Florissant police and a request that she leave the store, the
filing said. Within an hour she'd posted her "defamatory" claims to
Facebook, accompanied by pictures, the filing said. The post was
shared at least 36,654 times and "liked" by at least 7,400 other
people, some of whom vowed to never eat at Steak 'n Shake again, the
filing said.

The company sued White later in 2018. The suit said White deleted a
Facebook comment with the health inspector's report that said there
were no problems with the meat and a picture that showed fat, not
worms, on a patty.

White's lawyer, Samuel Henderson, said the verdict could force White
into bankruptcy.

https://casetext.com/case/steak-n-shake-inc-v-white-1

On Fri, 18 Jun 2021 16:12:32 -0700, KlausSchadenfreude
<klaus.schadenfreudeREMOVE@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

>The company sued White later in 2018. The suit said White deleted a
>Facebook comment with the health inspector's report that said there
>were no problems with the meat and a picture that showed fat, not
>worms, on a patty.
>
>White's lawyer, Samuel Henderson, said the verdict could force White
>into bankruptcy.
>
>https://casetext.com/case/steak-n-shake-inc-v-white-1

If she honestly thought she saw worms in the meat, her initial
actions make sense. She informed management of the issue, as she
should have done.
She was really stupid to refuse to give Tardy the patty so that
he could inspect it. I get the impression, and that is all it is, that
she began to realize there were no worms in the meat, but didn't want
to admit her mistake.
Her refusal to cooperate with the investigation, as required by
S&S policy, is what lead to her termination. Missouri is an Employment
at Will state. This means either party can terminate employment
without notice for almost any reason. It would be really dumb, but
legally an employer could fire an employee for riding a bike to work
rather than driving a car. Dumb, but legal.
Refusing to cooperate in an investigation in violation of written
company policy would prove a much more sound reason.
I presume S&S was able to produce evidence that White's Facebook
post caused them $70,000.00 in damages. I do wonder what the purpose
of the $10,000.00 in punitive damage is all about. S&S must have
realized she would never be able to pay the $70k. What gain is there
getting more?
White's original Facebook post is no longer available, but
nothing on the Internet is ever truly gone.

https://ibb.co/TTfZ8Vx

At first blush, thinking the white spots are worms can be
understood. But clearly what we're seeing is fat.

--
KWills
alt.food.fast-food Leadership Committee President