I am just as sickened by those of you who feel this is no big deal as I am by the worthless human beings who committed this act. What do you think should happen?! Oh, sorry we humiliated you in front of your kids and didn't give your the food you paid for. Yeah, that should do it...please! The fact that McDonald's offered her a $10 gift certificate boils my blood. That person, his/her staff, the idiot who served her, and the manager of the offending McDonald's should have been canned immediately. That would have been a start...but just a start. The fact that this occurred demonstrates that McDonald's has a poor employee training program and obviously has no criteria for manager. I will personally never by another fry from McDonalds until I see a formal apology in print. It's absolutely a shame that the people in that town don't boycott that restaurant. Large corporations like this only respond when it hurts their pocket. That town should make it hurt. I wonder if this is how the Ronald McDonald House raises funds?

Let us look at the comments here. All are in favor of the idea that this is NOT good behavior on behalf of the McDonalds employees. They humiliated that woman, and were discriminatory towards her. If perhaps McDonalds Corporate decided to put out a press release in response to the ordeal stating "We support the actions of our McEmployee and will continue to condone this behavior as our corporate policy" do you think McDonalds would even have 10% of the volume they had the previous day?

If any of you are truly angry about McDonalds in general... JUST DON'T GO THERE. How many of you posted here saying that McDonalds needs to be sued, yet still eat there? Well, if a lawsuit comes through, it will just mean an increase in the prices, or perhaps a decrease in the raises to their employees. I'm sure neither of those are appealing to anyone of the Billions of people that get meals there.

I am of the opinion, to let people go ahead and refuse service. Let them show their true colors if you will. If people out there are so closed minded and bigoted, they will simply NOT survive in business. I know I for one would not eat at a restaurant that refuses service based on uncontrollable individual situations or circumstances.

The government has only ever done exactly what most people wanted. Had it been ungoverned, nearly the same result would have occurred in terms of equality. I also believe, had it not been coerced, people would be less at odds with each other in general now regarding racial matters. Any law that places two people in different categories based on race, officially creates different categories that carry through to the individual level. It silly actually to think that laws and government have done anything valuable in reducing racism.

I've not eaten at McDonalds in 12 years after I was humiliated at the restaurant by their idiot employee, and an inept manager. I've voted with my dollars, and I believe it has been quite significant over the years, especially since my Army Unit no longer visits McD's on bus back from training. It's probably cost the corporation over $100k over the years. That's good enough for me.

And Finally... again... shame on anyone here who thinks the lawsuit should carry through, yet still eats there. You are paying that lawsuit and being a hypocrite. You need to vote with your dollars.

Now, having read all 125 current comments, I'm also disgusted by a handful of truly heartless Consumerist readers. It may shock a few of you to know that people are people, even if they aren't able-bodied, and no one deserves the kind of humiliation this woman encountered. The comment about her love life is possibly the cruelest, most puerile thing I've ever seen on this site, and if the person who wrote it isn't in junior high school, I'm shocked, and s/he should be ashamed and embarrassed. Someone who loves someone who is differently abled certainly shouldn't be.

Perhaps if, heaven forbid, any of the cruel and callous commenters ever find themselves disabled, their eyes will be opened. They certainly aren't without their flaws right now, and I must say I find anyone striving to live a life of respect and dignity much more appealing than they could ever be with such attitudes. The woman in the posted story may not be traditionally 'beautiful,' but I'd certainly rather be involved with someone who isn't beautiful on the outside than someone who is so inwardly revolting as a few of these commenters... no matter how they look.

I'm surprised they took the credit card off her foot in the first place. My first thought would be that she was handing me something with an unshod foot she'd just probably had on the floor of her car. I wonder if she Purells her feet or something?

I don't know what wierd contraption allows her to steer and accelerate, but it cannot be as safe, accurate, or responsive as even a single hand - I would count this as a viable statement as there is not a single method I can visualize that would allow her the physical push-pull power arms have on a steering wheel, that could be opperated simultaneously with traffic signals and accelerator/brakes. Drive-by-wire engineering could make it POSSIBLE to operate all the above mentioned items, but I have not seen any proof on the safeness of DbW.

The other statement was Driving is not a right, most people forget that, which is a proven fact. At least the not being a right part, not the forgetting.

Also RKM12, if you are parapalegic as mentioned above, your lack of leg use is a lot less debilitating than a lack of arms, at least insofar as driving is concerned. You only have to compensate for a lack of gas/brake action from below, where she has to compensate for steering, signals, wipers, and a lot more. While my opinions on handicapped driving haven't changed, at least in my opinion, you would be less of a risk behind the wheel than her.

I know it's different for everyone, but I suggest before deciding that the handicapped are shitty dirvers that you do some research and meet people like myself and others who drive and live our lives. Education is key here. Saying we're not safe drivers because you're not aware of how it's done is ignorance at best.

Are you for real with this shit? Are you actually still here saying the same thing over and over again? You are quite the glutton for punishment my friend.

You're absolutely right my friend, I was simply highlighting the MC Donald's way in my last response to you. It wasn't with sarcasm. That is actually how they handle their employees.

@Gloria: Honestly, I think most people are going to be a little surprised if someone hands you money with their foot. And they may not even be able to hide that surprise (which is why I can excuse "Girl, you ain't got no arms" although it was definately rude). But no excuse for the refusual of service.

Calloused? Yes. M'fer? What?

When I've taught college students, and a misunderstanding crops up again and again, I've sometimes found it's easiest just to repeat the same words, over and over, and eventually they get it. So, for the 90 millionth time, this case has absolutely nothing to do with "making fun of" or "humilating" a person with disabilities. It has to do with refusing service to them, based on the fact of the disability alone, and without a single reasonable justification for doing so. That's called discrimination, and constitutes a violation of their civil rights. The very fact that a number of you cannot comprehend how this is no different from refusing service because of a person's race is, quite frankly, simply making me more convinced that this is a more indidious and serious problem than people realize, and therefore all the more reason why there should be a large lawsuit to set a precedent (or confirm a precedent, since this isn't the first example of such a case).

In even simpler terms: civil rights violations are no joke. It was a long and costly road before racial discrimination was rooted out of company policy and behavior in the U.S. We're clearly still on that road with respect to disabilities. It's not about "hurt feelings", which I'm sure this woman is strong enough to not give a shit about after all she's been through in her life. It's about getting her her goddamn food when she asks for it, like any other human being.

@savagesaladin: Wow. You're a callous m'fer arentcha?

I stopped going to McDonald's years ago in protest for the way in which they treated a friend of mine. McVerdict anyone?

I'm honestly stunned by the ignorance in so many comments here. Cringing over feet? Really? Most people's feet are probably cleaner than their hands. Grow up.

I drive a standard, so all four limbs are in need. Left foot clutch, right foot gas/brake. Right arm shifts, controls wipers, lowers sun visor when needed, and assists steering on sharp/highspeed turns. Left arm does most of the steering plus controls headlights, signal lights (which most people forget exist) and operates the window. Drop it down to an automatic you can work without the left leg, but loosing either arm puts you in a situation where control over the steering is lost slightly and you now have no use of the wipers, lights, windows, sun visor, or anything else without having to let go of the wheel. I'm sorry, you must have two arms and at least one leg to drive in any manner I would call safe. Driving is not a right, most people forget that, and they really need to sit down and re-evaluate who gets a liscence these days.

Wow, I go away for a little while and the morons take over.

@etinterrapax: @Eyebrows McGee: Well said

It was an employee and a manager who were wrong. And they should lose their jobs. Personally, I don't think she (the victim) deserves any more than that. For the PR boost McDonalds might give her free food for a year or something... still, why does she deserve it? Because someone made fun of her handicap? I'm sure it wasn't the first time. Because she didn't get her food? I'm willing to bet the $10 gift certificate covered that.

She's just suing McDonalds because she wants to go after the corporation with deep pockets. I'm sure it's not malicious--she's probably a hard working mother who wants to be able to provide better for her kids. And McDonalds will probably settle, costing them relatively little, and give her a whole bunch of free food.

On the multiple driving comments above:

I'm guessing this lady drives better than half of the asshats I see on the road daily.

@SuburbanSocialite: Yeah, they missed the point entirely didn't they?

"They wouldn't give me my food after paying."
"Here's 10 dollars so you can try again."
"What?!?!"

@hoo_foot: If the employee would actually call her disgusting I doubt that they would bother finding some other way of giving them their food.

Ah yes, perfect solution. So if I'm a white employee and have to serve food to a black woman, we're cool as long as she's accompanied by a white person with whom I can complete the transaction. I mean, I shouldn't have to deal with black people if I am disgusted by black people in general, right? I mean, yuck. That's not right to force me to serve them.

Except it doesn't (and you don't) when it refuses to serve someone who has a disability.

There are both state and federal laws against this.

If you are in fact a restaurant owner and you're not aware of the Americans with Disabilities Act, applicable state laws, and other civil rights laws applying to places of public accommodation, I suggest you get your ass to a lawyer and have a little learning session before you get sued into bankruptcy for discriminatory practices that violate state and federal laws. And also make you an asshole.

I'm not going to spend much more time discussing this, because I have a boatload of work to do, but this statement of yours shows you're still not getting it: it's not about humiliation. McDonald's employees can be rude, and even humiliate a customer, and then just probably lose their job. But this is about REFUSAL OF SERVICE to a person with a DISABILITY, based solely on the fact of their having a disability. Same as if it were a refusal based on race in an all-white restaurant in the 1960's. You see, it wasn't that long ago when people trotted out the excuse that white people just weren't used to eating with black people in the same room, so can you really sue an establishment if the employees' and owners' "natural reaction" is to deny service? Well, you can now: try telling a black woman to get out of your restaurant because "girl, you're black", and see where that gets you. I'll be interested to see the results.

Sorry, if you can't see the ethical grounds for a lawsuit (civil rights for people with disabilities) then you're on your own. I suggest doing some homework and understanding what it means for a society to protect and respect the basic civil rights of its citizens.

OK, this is where my account gets banned/canceled.

I feel for her and I belive she has every right to sue after they violated her rights and then tried to make amends with a $10 GC, but...

She said this was to feed her kids...

SOMEONE HAD SEX WITH HER?

Sorry, I just cant wrap my insensitive mind around that notion.

I really wish Consumerist would stop printing plaintiff's lawyers' press releases. Let us know when someone wins. Filing a lawsuit is not worthy "news" to the extent it is even remotely true.

A good customer service worker is someone who is genuinely interested in working with all kinds of people, is friendly, helpful, and compassionate and emphatic to a person's plight should something go less than clockwork. Not everyone's perfect, but if these people couldn't even be bothered to give a decent amount of respect to someone, they have no business working in that line of work, period.

I don't think a lawsuit will help anything, but terminating those employees involved would have given some tiny sort of an effort of good faith on the part of McDonald's. Hell, even an apologetic phone call from someone a bit higher up would have been nicer than a "Sorry, here's a gift certificate."

Apparently you CAN put a price on someone's dignity: roughly two big macs and a large milkshake. Maybe a cookie too if you're lucky.

Regardless it is very simple in 99.9999% of all cases to complete a transaction without actual physical contact and barring that most restaurants have latex gloves available.

As for the driving, much like cars adapted for people short in stature or legless there are adaptations that can be made. A guy lived across from me in my first apartment who was paraplegic and he had a nice Cavalier with hand controls much like a motorcycle. I am certain they have made adjustments to enable her to drive better.

People's reactions to this woman baffle me. She has a clear case. She has every right to sue. She is the one who should be upset over frivolous lawsuits, because they've clogged the courts and made cases like hers appear frivolous to the public. All McDonald's had to do was give her the food and take her money. She bothered no one and couldn't possibly help having no arms. Everything she has had to learn to do to function in daily life has taken twenty times the effort of the person who refused her service, and that jerk couldn't even be bothered to give her human respect.

As for not wanting to deal with someone who uses their feet as hands, that's just as ignorant as anything else. Feet are not inherently dirtier than hands. And you'd better believe that if you used them as hands, you'd be positive they were as clean as anyone's hands. Let's leave out for the moment that the kid at the window didn't even need to touch this woman's feet. He passes the bag, she takes the bag, that's it. When you deal with the public, you're automatically involved with people who don't wash after going to the bathroom, who pick their noses, who masturbate while driving, who collect garbage for a living, who don't wash their hands after work, who have kids who don't wash their hands, or who were just unlucky enough to get change of a $5 that the last guy kept in his underwear for six months. That's the job. I'm sorry the pay's so shitty, but I'm sure that nowhere in the McDonald's training manual does it say that shitty pay gives you the right to be a jackass. Now it's going to cost them, and well it should.

Um, how about training employees that ALL customers who aren't disruptive are to be treated with respect?

"i can chose who i want to serve at my restaurant and i think mcdonalds should have the same right."

You better hope that I never own the only restaurant in your town. I don't like illiterate, insensitive douchebags. If my place is your only choice, you're gonna STARVE, my friend.

Let me guess. You call yourself a "compassionate conservative" and watch a LOT of Fox News Channel, right?

"Larson says the manager eventually agreed to hand Larson's son the food. But she says an incident 3 and a half moths later at the McDonald's on 11th Street didn't end that way. Larson claims an employee there refused to even do that. "I paid to be discriminated against and I paid to be disrespected and I paid to not even have the right to eat my food."

Also in the article - it happened twice, at TWO DIFFERENT McDonald's. Not saying it's a nationwide problem, but it's not an isolated incident.

If the McDonald's employees were disgusted by her, then why didn't they just hand the food to the kids in her car?

I'm definitely not condoning Mcdonald's poor behavior, but it feels like something is missing from this story...

"its people like her that make anyone disabled look like an asshole." And that's just wrong on so many levels...

As for the settlement, i do think money won't fix this kind of thing, but bad PR will sure make McD's avoid it from happening again. I don't care if she gets big money on this (and we don't even know about that yet), they had it coming.

They have probably done a thorough analysis and determined the additional cost of hiring better employees would be greater than the cost of settling lawsuits such as this. So it really isn't anything they weren't expecting nor should we find it particularly surprising. I'm certainly not concerned about McDonald's well-being. They might even have insurance for this sort of thing.

I think this is worth a few million. Maybe it will convince McDonald's to hire people with some aptitude. You get what you pay for (which is also why I don't eat there).

McD's is about to get a bit McPoorer.

I wouldn't be crazy about taking a credit card from someones foot or trying to somehow place a bag of food between someones toes. Especially for six bucks an hour.

I would like to see the controls of the car she was driving. Is she steering with her mouth??

Geez, people say drivers with cell phones are dangerous.

And who knows? As other commenters had pointed out, had the corporate office made even a modicum of effort to correct the situation (a $10 gift certificate? Shame on them.), they could possibly have avoided a lawsuit. No sympathy here.

McDonald's should stop hiring employees that don't give a shit. So it is their fault they hired a McMoron. Yet the employee should be held just as responsible for making the comment in the first place. McDonalds sucks.

@mikemar42: I would like to know your restaurants name as well. if I ever spent a penny there I would probably choke right now.

@adrock75: I cannot even begin to comprehend your comments.

How about you switch places with this lady. Nah, you never will understand and it would not surprise me if you either work for McDonalds or even at the McDonalds' in this story.

The lady does not need sympathy she needs justice!

I'm generally on board with the 'man, that's obnoxious of the folks at McDonald's' vibe, but at the same time, having worked in the food industry, I can say that in general, you develop a pretty strong aversion to things that have been touched by people's feet (at least in the context of food service). If a knife or fork falls on the floor, you're expected to replace it, not put it back on the table.

Obviously the one cashier didn't have a problem with it, I'm just saying that the whole "she just kept sticking to the fact that I didn't have no arms and she was disgusted by it." thing may be more of a reaction of having to interact with feet than a 'no arms' thing.

@mikemar42: And where do you work? I just want to make sure I never give a dime to such an ignorant a-hole. Her handicap is physical. Obesity is a psychological issue, and is correctable in most cases (AFAIK). And "too stupid"? Mental handicaps are not something to discriminate over, especially when so many of the employees appear to share the disability in some part.

McDonald's must have one of the stupidest legal departments in the industry.

The "hot coffee" suit began when a woman who received serious burns (requiring skin grafting and physical therapy) from coffee served at a temperature *above* industry standard (there was a long list of complaints and injuries, and they were selling this stuff filled to the brim to people in cars) approached McDonald's for compensation for her medical bills alone - no other compensation (she was a waitress and had no insurance). They refused and ended up on the hook for well more than that initial amount thanks to their incompetence.

Here, if they'd shown a little more interest and compassion - free meals for a year, plus a donation to a charity, and firing the parties involved? - there would be no suit.

As for "Why sue?", it's the only threat corporations listen to. They approached the company themselves and got the brush-off. The media alone from saying they're suing will cause McDonald's to sit up, and hopefully not to be so stupid as to let it go to court this time.

For what it's worth, the U.S. is more litigious than Europe, for example, because we don't have the bureaucratic and social programs that make them less necessary there (e.g., a lot of lawsuits, though not this one, for medical bills). The size of damages awarded is the more shocking part (punative in particular), although the media usually reports the jury-awarded amount, and not the amount that the judge ends up reducing it to later.

Congratulations on producing the single stupidest comment on this post. To more clearly illustrate the stupidity of your comment, let's re-phrase it as such: "dur, what're they sp'osed to do, go over every possible race and ethnicity a human could possibly be in case they ever encounter it?" Refusing service based on race, sex, or disability is a violation of a person's civil rights.

There are accomodations that can be used as the brake and gas pedal by pulling and pushing. The people I know without arms drive just fine. A lot better than some able-bodied people I know.

I'm pretty sure if you spent your whole life using your feet as your hands that they'd become pretty adept at doing things.

I believe that most McDonald's would serve a cobra if the cobra had a credit card. I also believe many people are cruel to those with differences from the majority. Thus @adrock75: i agree.

Again it may sound mean, but cars are dangerous enough with non-handicapped people driving.

As for differently-abled people, here's one I found out about a while back - an armless DJ, Pascal Kleiman. Check out this YouTube video of him mixing and changing records with his feet. Amazing skill and anyone on the dancefloor wouldn't know any different. Just goes to show, they're as capable as anyone else.

Is everyone missing that this happened *twice* and it was only the second time that she sued? That's... even worse for McDonalds. The first time was the "you ain't got no arms", the second was after she paid, they refused to give her food. She paid with her feet, but she couldn't get the food with her feet?

Good christ, even when I was 16 and worked at Wendys, I would go out of my way as much as possible for the women if she came to my window. When the fuck did people stop caring about helping others? God, that's so sad.

Man, here's to hoping that employee goes hands-first into the friolator.

Are you LOV'N IT yet?

A lawsuit can be about generating negative publicity (in this case, for a company that richly deserves it) and forcing institutional change more than it's about money. My guess is that this woman cares less about getting a fat settlement than about improving life for other disabled people.

@mikemar42: Wow! You're totally right! You know what? I own a restaurant and I don't like Hispanics, so I think I'm going to stop serving them. They're all illegal, and they just bog down our system with their lack of tax paying and all. But I have the RIGHT to refuse service to them!

And you know what? I also am not really a fan of Indians either. So anytime I see one of them come into my establishment, I'm going to ignore them and then refuse service. Because that's my RIGHT.

Right?

You're a jerk. I understand this is a litigious society and perhaps a HUGE apology would be more than sufficient in this case, but under your logic, my two scenarios above would be completely acceptable in society.

What do you think now?

Well, I teach high school, and I see the teen-age versions of people like that all the time, unfortunately. Any perceived flaw is immediately seized upon as a vulnerability or weakness. And some never grow out of that mindset.

What's with the hatin' on people with physical disabilities, anyway? Just because people are different than you doesn't mean they are inferior. Get over yourself.

IANAL, but the ADA guidelines for business state that while "[i]t is not necessary to locate all merchandise within reach of people who use wheelchairs...[i]tems can be placed at any height but staff should be available to assist customers who may have difficulty reaching or viewing items."

My guess is that by extension this would apply to a person with Ms. Larson's condition who needs to remain seated to allow her to use her legs and feet to grasp objects.

Some basic Hamburger U. training on sensitivity to customers with disabilities is in order, if this incident isn't to happen again to someone else - and that will probably require a well-publicized lawsuit.

It allows the industry to quiver at the thought of messing with someone with such a debilitating disorder. It will set a standard, and prove a point. You will learn in time the values and ambitions of this woman, once she crushes MC Donalds with little or no effort in court. Haven't you been reading this entire time? Go troll elsewhere, and grow a brain.

@mikemar42: Wow...jerk alert!

For those wondering about driving with her feet, it's perfectly safe. There are many devices out there to help people with handicaps still drive (I have a friend with MS who has one such device).

That being said, I'm not sure what a lawsuit accomplishes. If that happened to me, I'd want McDonald's to go over their procedures and sensitivity training so it didn't happen again. Again, it's not me so I won't pass judgment, but I hope if anything the publicity will let companies know treating customers poorly doesn't make any sense.

On another note, to the person frightened of the woman driving, plenty of people, including myself, drive with the use of accommodations. A good friend of mine without any arms drives with different things attached to the steering wheel. We adapt to the situation.

''Try our iced coffee (Caution contents may need two hands for drinking)!''

yes, many people with this debilitating disorder assume functionalities regularly performed by the hands, with their feet. I've seen a woman with no arms drive with her feet before. It does not look easy. Consider how much larger your legs are than your arms, and how many calories this woman burns compared to a normal person who performs most of these tasks with their hands and arms.

I hope she's only suing the McDonalds restaurant that undermined her, in front of her kids. I don't agree with suing McDonalds HQ, as disciplinary action and responsibility for such behavior should be the sole obligation of the owner.
Also, before pursuing legal action, she should have spoken to the owner. Where she should of received an apology, and not a lousy 10 dollar coupon. If that failed, then escalate this the next step, aka lawyer.

@mikemar42: So, a restaurant, open to the public, publicly traded, that, say, doesn't serve black people or Jewish people, or people like you (I'm sure there is something noisome about you), that would be ok? Is this the kind of society we want to live in? Is this who we want to be?

You're selling MC Donalds short my friend. Fire every single employee within earshot, then close down the location when they went on strike for better wages, and medical, rather than give in! Thats the Mickey D way! look at life with a shit-eatin grin, and punch a baby in the throat! HELL YEAHHH!!!!!

I wonder if it was a single $10 gift certificate or 10 of those $1 ones they advertise around Christmas. Those would have REALLY been humiliating.

BY ADROCK75 AT 05:48 PM Am I the only one that doesn't think McDonald's needs to get sued over this and it's blown way out of proportion?
=================================

Yeah, you probably are the ONLY one. Those McDuds are just lucky that she didn't have someone at home like me because if my wife or girlfriend came home and told me that story I would have been down at the McDuds with a baseball bat and sorted them out real quick. I hope she wins BIG!

Ummm, maybe I'm just ignorant.
"She drove to the first window, gave the cashier her credit card with her foot, and pulled up to get her food."

How does she drive? prostetics?

"If a customer comes to you with a deformity such as a missing arm or a disfigured face, treat them with respect and continue the transaction as normal." Really, how hard is that?

Then I guess BOTH of you better head over to Rockford for a face-to-face interview!

@adrock75:
Threatening (or actually initiating) a lawsuit is (sadly) sometimes the only way to get a company to respond with something better than a $10 gift certificate.

being that the article lists this as happening more than once, yes, though even if if it was only once, raping one's rights as a human being, as well as public humiliation very much is grounds for a lawsuit, with spectacular cause. Yes, you are responsible for your employees, regardless of how many there are. Thats what makes having such a huge chain dangerous.

Wow, way to fight discrimination with some stereotypes of your own. Has it ever occurred to you that "cross-eyed" people have a medical condition called strabismus that is in no way tied to intelligence? My 7-year-old could probably kick your ass at chess, and he's "cross-eyed" to use your wonderful term...

@adrock75: so far yes.

suing may look like a cash out effort, but I suspect a very public apology by McDonald's, the employee & their manager (both of whom should be severely disciplined if not fired - one for being an asshat & the other for hiring said asshat); plus a non-further-&-final-insulting gift certificate would lead to a settlement.

well, ya see, the problem with not educating every employee in the art of, not getting sued over something THIS obscene, very much is their fault. Usually, if you hire gutter trash to handle customers in you're place of business, you ask for trouble. The long and short of it is, yes, you are responsible for your employees and their actions. Thats why they're YOUR EMPLOYEES.

While it may be true that there are always bad employees, I think this goes far beyond childish behavior. There is simply no excuse for these actions. Words truly do not describe how awful these people were to this woman, and quite frankly I'm disgusted that a manager, or anyone for that matter, would even think about saying these kinds of things to someone.

And the gift card?! That's just adding insult to injury.

I truly hope this woman is compensated, and that the employees are fired without question.

I'd like to hear both sides of this story. I'd also like to see/hear what this customer actually said to McDonald's, through which medium she lodged the complaint, etc. I'm not saying I don't believe her or feel she's ABSOLUTELY in the right here, but let's hear it all. Did she call up and just talk to some dingbat CSR on the 800 line? Did she file a mini survey complaint online?

Either way, McDonalds missed an opportunity to right this wrong, and now they'll have to pay for it.

What are they supposed to do in sensitivity training, go over every possible disease and malformation that a human could possibly have in case they ever encounter it?

I'm sure the corporate take is something about a slippery slope, but this isn't like someone wasn't served because they were belligerent or drunk; she wasn't served because the employee was "disgusted with her handicap".

I'm not sure she's really owed punitive damages or something like that; I don't think humiliation by itself is going to get her a judgement -- however, she may have a basis for a civil rights violation due to her disability.

I think the main problem at places like McDonalds is that even the managers now are young, undereducated, low-paid, and uninformed. This should have been stopped at the store level by a manager who fixed the problem and reprimanded the employee, but it looks like the local store management was completely inept. Go figure.

Hey McDonalds; pay managers more, get better managers, and save on your perennial lawsuits.

Yes, you're pretty much the only one. Now look stupid and feel ashamed. Grow a brain.

A $10 Gift Certificate? Definitely sounds like McDonalds, period.

10$ gift certificate?
Wow.. fuck.. I give up.
let someone else do the ranting.

Just sounds like stupid people working at McDonalds. Someone should have a Executive CSR or something on speed dial at all places incase something like this happens again. That way people can be referred to smart McD's employees at a moments notice.

If I worked for McDonalds and this complaint landed on my desk I'd be at that branch in an hour making sure those involved were no longer part of our happy hamburger family.

There was a time that I was at McDonalds when a homeless guy came in and proceeded to order a Super size fries and soda when the person at the counter made a rude comment under his breath. The manager heard it and sent that worker home. I am just posting this to show that there are good and bad workers everywhere.

In this case, the manager and the other worker were being really childish.

This is one of the rare cases where I hope someone wins their lawsuit.

"Girl, you ain't got no arms"... I'm sure that was news to her...

that girl deserves to get her own mcdonalds outta this.......