Jury weighs strip-search hoax case

The women was 18 when the events occurred.

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A jury deliberated Thursday the case of woman who said she was forced to strip in a McDonald’s back office at the behest of a caller posing as a police officer.

Louise Ogborn, 21, is suing the fast-food giant, accusing it of failing to warn her and other employees about the hoaxer, who had already struck other McDonald’s stores and other fast-food restaurants across the country.

Ogborn is seeking $200 million in compensatory and punitive damages. McDonald’s has said Ogborn is responsible for whatever damages she suffered for not realizing it was a hoax. After a four-week trial, the jury deliberated without reaching a verdict the first day and planned to return today.

After about two hours of deliberations, jurors asked to review some of the evidence.

Judge Thomas McDonald said he would allow jurors to see a copy of the employee handbook that Ogborn signed but denied requests to review a map showing the locations where other hoax calls were received and a timeline of events.

The jury forewoman also told the judge that one juror wanted to see a clip of the security video taken of the strip search. McDonald directed jurors to review other evidence first, but said if there were still questions, he would allow the jury to view the video clip.

What happened

Ogborn was 18 and working at a McDonald’s in April 2004 when she was forced to strip after a man called the store, claiming he was investigating a theft. At one point during the 3 1/2-hour search, the assistant manager’s boyfriend was left to handle the phone call.

Donna Jean Summers, the assistant manager, was convicted of unlawful imprisonment. Her former fianceé, Walter Nix Jr., is serving a 5-year sentence for sexual abuse and other crimes.

Summers and Kim Dockery, who also was an assistant manager at the restaurant, are named as defendants in Ogborn’s civil suit. Summers also has sued McDonald’s and is asking the jury to award her $50 million.

A Florida man, David Stewart, was charged with making the hoax phone call but was acquitted last summer.