HARRISBURG, Ill. - Another case of overreaction and misperception has caused a Harrisburg business to come under attack on social media this weekend (February 22-24.)
Without going too much into it, we'll just present it as it appears in atrocious posts on Facebook.
We'll follow each screencap with a typed-out version of what's in it so those who might be mobile-y challenged (meaning the media won't load) can see what's going on. All typos are intact.
On Wesley Cowsert's page, he posted the above pic with the comment: "Harrisburg McDonalds just kicked a man out that was Extremely mentally retarded. They tried kicking him out in front of me because he wasn't a customer. I bought him food and told them he was a customer and was staying. Half way through his meal the cops showed up and made him go outside. He is outside looking in the window eating. What is wrong with people."
Another Fecesbook individual, whose ID we can't make out from the screencap, opined: "Shame on Moreland/Bishop McDonalds for discriminating against someone for being mentally handicapped and less fortunate. They have no problems letting crackheads come inside and loiter but they draw the line at someone who is mentally handicapped. Wow."
McDonald's responds: "We are aware of the photo that is circling Facebook today about our Harrisburg McDonald's. Unfortunately, the individual in this picture has a history of being asked to leave by management and police on several occasions. His unpredictable behaviors have created significant concerns for the safety and comfort of our employees and customers. Today he had been there for over 4 hours and had been asked to leave multiple times. He was also making parents uncomfortable by being in the PlayLand with the children. We are compasionate of the individuals situation and appreciate the customers generosity, the restaurant acted appropriately to remove an individual that has a long history of disruptive and unacceptable behaviors which have negatively affected our customers experience. At our restaurants, our goal is to provide our customers with a positive and welcoming experience each time they visit. Along with ensuring the safety of our staff." (this is filled out from another 'cap of the full post, not included here for brevity.)
Cowsert responds: "You are lying. When he was in the play land he was sitting with my family. He was not bothering anybody. He was in the middle of eating his food we had bought him. I was the individual that made the post and you are lying. You need to contact me before I go to the media with this."
Renee Gotkin states: "Wesley Cowsert please do."
Brianna Payne says: "So to be clear, you were with him the whole four hours? You saw him the ENTIRE time he was there. Seeing him just sitting does not indicate he hadn't been in the play land before you got there," ostensibly, toward Cowsert.
That's the end of the screencaps that were sent to us, this happening yesterday, Saturday, February 23.
Here's what we sent back last night in response.
Here's the bottom line on this:
McDonald's is a private business. They aren't accountable under accommodation laws like government entities (courthouses, police stations, fire departments) are. McD's has the right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason, under the exception of overt discrimination laws - in other words, if the owner/manager of the place looked at a person of African descent, called them the N word, and told them to get out BECAUSE of their descent, not because of something they were doing (a person can't be discriminated against because of behavior, only of something immutable, like skin color). McD's explained the situation, and it seems legit.
But here's the other problem.
Because they are a private business, anyone who makes a claim of wrongdoing against them on a public forum, thus bringing disparagement upon them, can be civilly sued and, if a valid complaint is made and there are losses stemming from the exposure, can be charged with a Class 4 felony under Illinois "Intimidation" law (don't be fooled by the word intimidation; it's not only intimidation, but it also covers false statements made against private entities or individuals, since there's no criminal libel law in Illinois). Libel is a printed untruth that causes harm to the person it's printed about. Facebook has made many people very wealthy (and conversely, many others very poor) because people think they can get on there and just spew to high heaven about a situation and disparage a private business in the process. They might be doing that in droves, but it can't, legally, be done. If McD's chooses to file suit, everybody who piled on and griped about this openly is subject to it. For reference, google the Sandmann kid and his multi-million-dollar lawsuit against people and entities. Social media has made people stupid. And McDonald's has deep pockets.
The way this should've been handled is for a formal complaint to be filed with police. If the police don't agree with the complaint, there's absolutely nothing the complainant can do. McD's is the boss here. If they don't want the guy in the store - and they have valid reason for it to back it up, although they don't NEED a reason - he's to go outside and stay. That might make the bleeding hearts unhappy, but that's the way it is.
Back in the day (before social media), people just kinda complained about this sort of thing amongst themselves, maybe wrote a letter to the editor of a local paper, maybe even talked to management if they wanted to be professional and an adult about it. Their complaints weren't out in the open with exposure to potentially millions of people, and if such a letter to the editor were published, it would probably be highly redacted. That's because you can't disparage a private business like that; there are civil torts and laws against such a thing. But nobody pulls them out anymore, because social networking sites are overwhelming the masses, and businesses are also overwhelmed and mostly choose to ignore such slams. One of these days, that might not be the case. We're hoping that like the Sandmann case, one of these private businesses (or individuals) gets a gutful and seeks out a great lawyer to take these mental midgets to task, and change the way social networking operates. It's nice to have "reviews" on your Fecesbook page, but like we had to do several years ago when we removed "reviews" from our page: When a coordinated effort to pile on is organized and carried out (which is happening right now; check Harrisburg McD's Facebook page and see for yourself), it's not worth having it. People are either going to like you and use your service or buy your product, or they are not. But dealing with a bunch of pissy little whiny virtue-signaling halfwits who think they know better than a business how to run that business is simply not worth it. Like we said above: Social media is making people stupid. And they're not interested in getting unstupid.
We've seen this before in Harrisburg; check out this story about how some chick thought it was a good idea to blame a local Mexican restaurant for Salmonella, which her kids could've picked up anywhere but she vowed and declared it was because of what they ate at the restaurant. No one else who ate there got sick, and the health department didn't find a trace of evidence of it, but that didn't stop her from ragging endlessly for weeks. The restaurant opted not to file anything, and now their statute of limitations is up (it's our understanding that there's a year to file). But that's not the case with McD's yet, as this just happened. The question for them now would be who, exactly, to sue.
People have, because of social media, come to be under the impression that their opinion is the only one that counts, and that they can say anything they want. There is no concept anymore of the fact that their rights end where another's rights begin. McDonald's had the right to remove the individual; his right to remain there ceased when others' rights were impinged upon (they had the right to be secure while they were engaging in commerce in a place of public accommodation). Mr. Cowsert has the right to his opinion, but his right ended when he began disparaging McD's and calling them liars and "being discriminatory" (under law, what happened isn't 'discrimination' by definition, but people think they know everything apparently, likely because of watching too much mainstream 24/7 'news'), then made a public spectacle of it, causing others to pile on. It's despicable, and it needs to stop. But that's going to take someone filing a lawsuit...and very few wish to do that.
We'll see what McD's ultimate choice is.
In the meantime, perhaps Mr. Cowsert could either A - take the mentally-handicapped guy home with him and give him a loving family, or B - begin lobbying our legislators to re-open the institutions. If we still had those, this kind of thing would never have happened. But limp-wristed bleeding heartism is what got the institutions shut down, and it's also what makes the social networking world go round, especially on Fecesbook, which is why we killed off our page. We'll be happy and relieved to see others doing the same if it ever happens...but we're not holding our breath.
