It’s hard to believe that grown adults could not recognize a seriously wrong situation, let alone adults that were trusted enough to be hired as an assistant manager of a restaurant. Good judgment out the window. Morals, out the window. Intelligence, zero.
April 9th, 2004 – Mt Washington, Kentucky
Asst. Manager Donna Jean Summers [51] gets a call from an unidentified caller telling her that an employee, Louise Ogborn [18], is being accused of stealing a purse. The “caller” tells Donna Jean Summers that he is a police officer. Without any proof of any kind who the person is on the other end of the phone, Donna Jean Summers begins to do everything the caller asks of her. As Donna is instructed by “caller”, she tells Louise she is to be searched, then strip searched or be taken to the police.
After watching this video (originally airing on ABC News Now and edited by Opie and Anthony) you may have about 100 questions popping into your head about the entire incident. Before we get into some of them, the following are the facts as they are today:
- Louise Ogborn sued McDonalds for $200 million and is awarded $6.1 million.
- Donna Jean Summers was fired and plead guilty to wrongful imprisonment and given 1 year probation.
- Donna Jean Summers sues McDonalds for $50 million and is awarded $1 million by the jury.
- Walter Nix Jr[42] is arrested and convicted for his part in this crime and other related crimes.
- David Stewart[38] a prison guard in Panama City, Florida is arrested and acquitted of being the culprit in this crime. (other charges pending in other similar cases) [special note, all calls of this nature to fast food restaurants have stopped since Stewart’s arrest]
- McDonalds did send warnings to their stores about prank phone calls two weeks prior to this incident (confirmed).
Now to the questions that came to mind while watching this. A store manager arbitrarily follows the instructions of an unidentified caller to perform police work knowing full well she is not qualified to perform police work, such as a strip search, let alone any kind of search of another person without a warrant. Not even reasonable suspicion will authorize Donna Jean Summers since she is not a law enforcement officer or even remotely trained as one. Donna Jean Summers illegally detains a subordinate, an employee under her care, and removes her victim (Louise Ogborn) of all possible defenses and means to defend herself and imprisons Louise using an effective means that prison guards employ to reduce the number of attempts to escape custody. A psychological ploy that reaches deep into the human psyche is the embarrassment and humiliation of being in public naked/nude and challenging authority. On an 18 year old female, this would be especially effective in keeping her prisoner without any effort. Donna Jean Summers, being an adult female, should have recognized the helplessness of this feeling immediately.
Donna Jean Summers took Louise’ car keys, cell phone and clothes, effectively imprisoning Louise in her office. Was Donna Jean Summers under a spell? Was she drugged? Was she being commanded to perform these acts with a gun held to her head? Why didn’t Donna Jean Summers just ask the “caller” to come to the store and do this himself, if he was truly a law enforcement officer, since the police station was only 5 minutes down the road from that particular McDonalds.
Donna Jean Summers was then instructed to bring her boyfriend/fiancé (Walter Nix Jr.) to the restaurant and perform guard duty. The second unqualified person to perform police work and Donna Jean Summers still doesn’t question anything that she is doing at the command of an “unknown” person on a phone. Keep in mind, this all transpired over the course of approximately 3 hours. Jason Bradley, 27, a cook who Donna Jean Summers at one point called in to watch Ogborn, refused to go along with the caller’s instructions to remove her apron and describe her.
While Louise was held prisoner against her will in a McDonalds store office, stripped of her defenses, stripped of her dignity, the 42 year old Walter Nix Jr (an adult) comes to take over by the “caller’s” request. Why would a 42 year old male, upon witnessing the situation, not immediately question this activity or the authenticity of the caller? We now know why and we now see the true colors of Donna Jean Summers and her judgment of those she “trusts.” What law enforcement authority would command one person to perform sexual acts on another? What idiot would follow such an order?
While Walter Nix Jr is enjoying the commands of his new boss “the caller”, Donna Jean Summers is more interested in keeping her subordinates out of the area of the office by attending to what must have been an “onslaught” of customers that were more important than the seriousness of the supposed situation in the office. If Donna Jean Summers had any true conviction that she was dealing with a real officer on the phone, and believed in her heart that this situation was legitimate and real, why wasn’t she at the side of her subordinate the entire time tending to this supposed more important issue, rather than feeding hungry people, which she had employees for? Donna Jean Summers enters the office at one point and ignoring that Louise is naked walks right past her to fiddle with the computer and looks for gift certificates at which point Walter Nix Jr then tosses Louise the apron to cover herself. Donna Jean Summers had abandoned a defenseless, helpless 18 year old female under her care [who Donna Jean Summers had personally rendered helpless and defenseless] to two adult male strangers, one with physical contact and the other on a phone giving commands. Donna Jean Summers was then shocked and surprised that anything “wrong” was going on even when she walked in on a fully nude Louise at one point.
Some time later, one Thomas Simms [58] was asked into the office and spoke with the “caller” to which he also refused to comply with a stranger on the phone. Donna Jean Summers was shocked and surprised to hear he was asked to remove Louise’ apron as well. Still Donna Jean Summers found nothing wrong with this entire incident, found no reason to stop it and never questioned the morality or violation of a subordinate Donna Jean Summers was responsible for or that persons rights and freedoms, including due process. Donna Jean Summers was in fact a willing participant.
Eventually other managers arrive on the scene (apparently contacted by Donna Jean Summers herself) and the real police were called to the scene who arrive in, you guessed it, 5 minutes.
McDonalds claims they sent warnings about phone pranks and hoaxes to all stores via voice/email two weeks prior to this particular event. This has been confirmed, however, whoever was the first to see this voice/email, somehow discarded it and “forgot” to tell the other managers or employees of this warning. Lisa Siddons, the manager there, said in her deposition that it didn’t mention strip-searches (see special note at the bottom). Apparently it was more important to get the word out that the McRib was back or that happy meals have a better prize in them.
If you look at just how bizarre this incident is in relation to Donna Jean Summers participation and her fiancé’s participation and how they both willingly believed the “caller” was law enforcement, but yet Walter Nix Jr had no problem with an officer telling him to command an 18 year old girl to perform sexual acts with him, and Donna Jean Summer had no problem strip searching one of her own subordinates without question or cause or a flicker of skepticism. Maybe the whole idea of Donna Jean Summers being commanded by a stranger to perform sexually exciting things to an 18 year old female turned Donna Jean Summers on. Maybe it turned on Donna Jean Summers AND her fiancé to have a stranger on the phone command them both to perform sexual acts with an 18 year old female. Maybe it was their secret fantasy to spike their own relationship, but it had to be with someone at least 18 but not old enough to fight back. Wait, that can’t be. There aren’t any people in this world that are that sick and demented, and there is no way that Donna Jean Summers and Walter Nix Jr could ever have been in league with or in partnership with this mysterious “caller” and set this whole thing up so that Walter Nix Jr would be readily available at a moments notice and that it would only be a matter of time before Donna Jean Summers called for some extra help at the end of a particular shift of a person that had already expressed her willingness to help out whenever she could for the extra spending money. Naw………too ridiculous……..or……….is it?
Special Note – McDonald’s employee manual clearly notes its policy against strip-searches. It also notes that no non-employee of McDonalds will be allowed into the restaurant offices.
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I cant believe that evil lady Donna Summers got rewarded and now she is millionaire,
What a horrible human being. She takes no responsibility for her huge mistakes! And that she gets money out of the situation is disgusting and pathetic.
I can see how Donna Summers having been taken in by this prank then became a victim of it. However, it seems grossly unjust that she should profit from this incident whereby her actions resulted in a prolonged act of degradation and sexual abuse upon a young woman who was under her management and care and who she had rendered utterly defenceless. A court or jury considering damages could have awarded a nominal $1 to recognised that she had been a victim but also to reflect the perversity of awarding compensation to a person involved in such abuse.
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Donna needs to got to jail for a long, long time. If Donna is a victim of anything, it is stupidity. She is far too stupid to be let loose into society.
The fact that this moron woman was awarded money for abusing a young girl is horrifying. She should of been locked up or institutionalized for being too stupid to be part of society!!
What she did to this girl is, at the very least, psychological rape. Making her strip and subjecting her to a parade of ‘guards’ is beyond disgusting. I watched her interview on 20/20 (I think that was the show) and was appalled at how callous she seemed. I kept thinking while watching ‘Compliance’, don’t any of them watch cop shows?
1. No warrant
2. No ID from the ‘cop’
3. Not one adult thought to tell this girl to ask for a lawyer or her parents
4. No questioning why the cop couldn’t be there. If the premise in the movie is based on the truth (that he was conducting a search of Louise’s home), how did he have time to spend hours on the phone?
As far as I’m concerned, Donna Summers committed a crime as serious as Stewart’s.
As much as I would like to THINK Donna Summers is literally one of the most stupid people to walk the face of this Earth, the facts do not add up at all that she was “duped” and “tricked”. She is a manager, is supposed to know the McDonalds rules (which she violated all) and an adult! Think of this: would we want our fiance to be in the room with a mostly nude, young and attractive lady (or man)? Why was she so comfortable leaving her nasty fiance with this naked young lady? Did she not think anything was odd when she comes back in the room and she is naked (without the apron) right in front of her fiance?
The fact this disgusting thing Donna Summers got off and got a cool MILLION dollars from McDonalds (how the heck she sued McDonalds for this and WON is beyond me and scary to think about!). She unlawfully detained an employee, let strangers in the room, paraded different men to “watch over” this naked young lady and it was all because the “officer on the phone” told her to? Come on! She seems like she got off on this in more way then one! Funny how of all people, her and her Fiance are the only ones lacking common sense in this whole thing….or did they? Seems like a nice setup for Nix, he gets a young, naked woman to spank, sodomize, and get oral sex from. Convenient he was availlable and ready to come at a moment’s notice and he seems to have no trouble complying with the “officer’s commands”.
As for Louise Ogborn, she is only 18 years old. Yeah, she was a lot naive and a little ignorant of the law, but she was humiliated and left defenseless by Donna Summers, ignored by Donna Summers when she pleaded for help, and was already abused by Nix before she did the sex acts. She was likely afraid for her life, or what else could happen to her. She was also afraid of being in trouble for crimes she did not commit.
Louise and McDonalds are the victims here. McDonalds has rules about strip searching and I am sure about detaining employees. While Louise may be ignorant of the law, which states an officer cannot interrogate or strip search over the phone. McDonalds also sent emails out warning of such scams. The one who was most at fault here was Donna Summers. Whatever Jury awarded her money needs to be jailed themselves.
Things like this make me lose my faith in people and our justice system. But if Donna really is that stupid…..wow….
Stupid americans..what else can you say
“You weren’t there, you wouldn’t know” is Donna’s favorite line in all her interviews. She’s right. We weren’t there, but we also aren’t as stupid as Donna. Aparently she thinks everyone in the world is completely unintelligent drones, willing to participate in whatever sick things we’re told to do. I’ve seen a lot of down right idiotic people in my life and if, that’s a big if, she had nothing to do with the caller in the first place, she is the stupidest person on the face of the earth. You heard it here, Donna Summers makes everyone else in the world look like fucking Albert Einstien. If you’re ever feeling down about yourself, just remember, you aren’t Donna Summers. Boyfriend cheating on you? At least you’re not Donna Summers. You are Donna Summers? At least YOU got a million bucks for molesting YOUR employee because your jury was made up of bunch of Donna Summers’. What shows me how terrible of a person she was before this whole thing happened, she didn’t give that money to the actual victim.
I agree I think she got off on seeing bad things happen to a pretty young girl
I think it is likely that Summers and Nix went blindly into this situation. However, once involved, allowed for some powerful cocktail of ignorance, automatic obeisance to authority, feelings of self-importance and excitement (aiding a “criminal investigation”), and conscious (or perhaps subconscious) sexual thrill (at the psychological and sexual abuse) to propel them through the experience. Louise’s acquiescence to the strip search and abuse probably allowed Summers and Nix to comply more easily, with a rolling snowball effect in place. (Imagine if Louise had outright refused to cooperate from the start.) I’m not a trained psychologist, but this is my best guess at what was going on.
Donna Jean Summers, I wish I knew where you live. Bitch.
And since I will never know where you live, I just hope that your neighbors have recognized you and shunned you all these years. Not so much for being an idiot, but for being a shameless idiot who blames someone else and gets paid big bucks . Plenty disgusting.
Smh
This lady Donna summers is one dumb woman!
Only in as much as that psychology is a “hobby” of mine (i.e. – not at all an expert but like to read a lot of books about the subject) I can kind of see where Donna Jean Summers was coming from initially. It’s absolutely true when she says “you weren’t there”. In the infamous 1961 Milgram experiment where hapless volunteers were led to believe they were inducing electric shocks on others in the name of science, **65%** administered the full 450V (unknowingly, faked) shock after being prompted to continue whenever they felt uncomfortable seeing/hearing the (staged) screams. So, yes, to an extent I can see where she was duped.
Now what I find absolutely appalling is her refusal to take responsibility upon learning the truth. I get the “you weren’t there” explanation, but there’s no genuine admission of remorse after that. Furthermore, she flat out lies such as when her attorney steps in after the interviewer calls out Summers by showing her the videotape. Again – I’m no expert – but from all I’ve read also about the psychology of body language, it’s my opinion that she is continually deceitful in her interview. Anytime the interviewer presses her about “how could you not know?” notice how she closes her eyes a few pauses longer than a blink when she defensively affirms her stance that she was just following orders or that she did not see Louise crying. Classic sign of trying to hide the truth – the truth in her case being, “yes, I messed up.” It’s the way she seems to conduct herself after this horrible incident that truly makes me question her character.
Donna is a criminal not once did she use common sense. I can’t believe there are actually people as stupid as Donna Jean Summers that exist in this world. Not once did she think we’ll if this was a real cop we would have come down to investigate the situation himself.
She should have gone to jail for several years because she never protected her employee not once.
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Not only is she guilty of extreme negligence, she abused her authority to bully a teenager into submission and aided her fiancee in abusing her employee. All of this in spite of her pleas for help.
If I were to make a correlation between her and other criminals it would be that of a sex slave trader:
Take away their freedom.
Dehumanize them
Have them perform lewd acts.
How she didn’t get the same sentence as her fiancee or worse I can’t fathom. She was the one who robbed Ogborn of freedom that lead to all the rest.
That she got paid for wrongful termination is just the icing on the cake. What’s wrong about firing someone without a moral compass who’d emotionally torture her employees?
It had to be a stupid moron Juries that awarded this dumbass criminal lady money. I wish they made public of the idiot Juries that gave this lady money for what she had done. They must of had Hillbillly Juries for that trial.
it must have been the OJ jury…
As much as everyone in this comment section seems to enjoy saying how stupid and evil the manager, et alis, are, presumably much more so than us, their are numerous studies you can look up that will clearly demonstrate how far the average human being will go to comply with someone claiming authority, and what atrocities we will commit, if ordered to do so.
Not sure what McDonalds did wrong, though. Is this even a corporate owned restaurant, or one of the franchises? McDonalds has both. In either case, it has little to o with them, that a crime was committed in one of their restaurants; it sounds like someone just thought “someone has to pay.”
Having watched “Compliance,” the motion picture based on these events, led me to this page. While no one can come away from this story with fond feelings for Donna Jean Summers and her stupefying lack of common sense, I found the article’s author as well as the majority of the comments to be very judgmental and unfair.
She was working at her job, under stress, and was conned into thinking the voice on the phone was that of a police officer. Certainly the way in which she allowed herself to be deceived seems unbelievable to those who are safely sitting in their chairs and spitting off criticisms from the comfort of anonymity, but even those of us who believe they are smarter could be caught in not the strongest frame of mind, or even feel intimidated to the point where the mind becomes a blur.
Once I received a phone call and the caller identified himself as an FBI agent. Before I came to my senses and realized the caller was a con man, my first reaction was GULP. Dealing with the authorities is not something most of us ordinarily experience, and when it happens, it is natural for us to feel shaken up.
Naturally our hearts go out to the victim (although she was eighteen and legally an adult), but comments in the article such as “Maybe the whole idea of Donna Jean Summers being commanded by a stranger to perform sexually exciting things to an 18 year old female turned Donna Jean Summers on” followed by a bunch of other “Maybe’s,” and a comment that began with “Donna is a criminal” are infuriating in their own right.
Donna Jean Summers did not ask for any of this. She simply buckled under once this excrement landed on her lap. If the movie I watched was true to the events, her character was played not as a Nazi, as the comments have made her out to be, but as one who asked the victim whether she would be all right with each step that was taken. The caller asked to speak with the victim (the phone kept getting passed back and forth), and once he succeeded in intimidating the victim, the victim gave her consent for every indignity she suffered.
We can blame her for not using her head (certainly she was not a mature adult, but she still was an adult in the eyes of the law), and we can absolutely blame Donna Jean Summers for not using her “better developed” head, but blaming someone while perched atop a high horse is easy. We do not know how any of the commenters or the author of the article would have reacted if they found themselves in the same circumstance. Hypocrisy and self-righteousness can indeed be ugly.
The fiance who got five years was a complete idiot, but it’s not like he asked for this situation either. He stupidly followed instructions, and anyone who has seen that famous 1960s footage of the Milgram Experiment is aware how prone most people are in regard to blindly responding to authority. He certainly should have known better, but can you imagine… five years?
I am reading a comment by “Rick SImon” where he accused the fiance (Nix) of spanking (yes) oral sex (yes) and sodomy… Where did that “sodomy” come from? (As far as I have been able to determine, no penetration was involved.) “Rick Simon” wrote, in his indignation, that the victim was “likely afraid for her life.” Can you believe it? “Rick Simon” actually felt there was a chance the victim was at risk of getting killed? “Rick Simon” certainly has displayed his own high level of idiocy while trying to come across as smarter, and as morally superior.
When people get emotional, the facts can fly out the window.
What “Rick Simon” was affected by (emotion) certainly influenced the victim and Donna Jean Summers as well.
The only real villain of this story was the caller, who unfortunately got away with the evil he has perpetrated (and this story was not the only incident; I believe there were SEVENTY such cases in all, adding up to “stupidity” on a grand scale). The jury did not convict the accused for lack of evidence. Perhaps the fellow was indeed innocent. The story is so repulsive, all of us naturally want someone to pay. On the other hand, that is a lynch mob mentality.
So many injustices in the world; it is very frustrating. Yet in our desire to lash out, we must never lose our perspective for fairness, as so many have done on this page.
.
We have another retarded person above. He/she mentions about Milgrim experiment yet it has little to do with this incident. In that said experiment, subject and actor were facing each other side by side, not over a phone which makes a huge difference. Then the subjects are promised to get payment regardless of the results, hence they had motivations.
Then he/she mentions that other people would also react the same way that idiot summers did. You absolutely would but certainly not the vast majority of people. I persoanlly had received a dozens of scam and spam calls in my life as it is somehow relatively common here. They usually tell that they are police officers and our bank account is used to transfer money to a terrorist organization. Then they either demand money transfer or the bank account number and password themselves. Anybody with a half braib would know that if this were true, police would come right onto your door without calling you. Just because you are stupid does not mean everybody will be as stupid as you.
Then he/she goes on mentioning about that film called Compliance which i also watched. In the film, it’s said that based on true events and we all know often times they are very loosely based, the Compliance is no different. I both read the actual event and watched the film and they differ in numerous points, even very crucial ones changed to keep story and plot going and to make it more appalling.
He/she has no idea about human psychology. The victim there is coerced, abused by someone whom she deems an authoritive figure, restaurant manager. summers abused her power in a similar fashion weinstein did. It is you who cannot understand how powerful this coercion and abuse can be. When victim said ” i was afraid of my life” that is very much true.If you beat , abuse and sexually assault someone by imprisoning and coercing her, there is no reason why they should not harm her more and even kill. What he/she did here is nothing but victim blaming which is an open indication how stupid and ignorant he/she is.
He/she has no idea about actual events, just watched the film and says no sodomy occurred. Well, it did. The film is largely fictional and just because it did not happen in the film, does not mean it didn’t in reality yet somehow he/she accepts a fictional work as truth in his/her delusional mind.
The he/she goes on and attempt to acquit a sexual assaulter and abuser giving the example of Milgrim experiment which has little to do with this. Nix had NO motivation like money as it is promised the subjects in that experiment. Also he was not facing with stewart but just hearing a voice on the phone. He abused, used sexual violence over the victim not because he was coerced but because he wanted to. It suited his book to sexually assault an 18 years of female. Then he/she is very sad because Nix got a 5 years in prison which is a strong indication that he/she him or herself in fact may well be another rapist or abuser. She/he is unable to understand the long lasting effects of sexual assault. Nix deliberately, knowingly, intentionally molestated, abused, sexually assaulted another individual and 5 years is even less than he deserved.
There are three villains here, stewart, summers and nix. nix got what he deserved but other two not only got away free but that bitch summers even rewarded for assaulting and abusing a young girl which caused me to lose all my respect for justice system.
I can go on and on but i won’t. When we stop blaming victims and recognise true perpetrators, those events will occur less and less.
Agreed everything ” ayhan ” said here. Additionally, ” stunned by hateful deceipt ” claims she gave consent for her abuse and he bases these claims lon a stupid movie. Igborn was threatened by the caller that her abuse would get worse. She also was threatened psychologically, mentally and emotionally by summers and nix. summers was her manager who was supposed to protect her. Ogborn herself says that she trusted summers. She also says that her parents taught her to do what adults tell her. Under these extreme psychological pressure, no viable and valid consent can be given.
I am also very adamant that nobody, repeating, NOBODY would act like nix and summers did. Caller asked other employees to perform various acts over victim and they all are REFUSED. This is a very common defense of rapists, sexual abusers and especially pedophiles that everybody would do the same if they were in the same situation, which is false and lame by the way.
Ogborn repeatedly begged summers to get freed, begged for help which summers refused all of her pleas. Summers also lying saying that she never saw her nude with nix. In the actual footage, it is very clear that she was in the room with nix when Ogborn was totally naked.
Neither summers nor nix are threatened nor coerced and nor promised money or any reward. They, especially nix, did all of these acts out of their volitions.
Stunned by deceit attempt to be smart yet comes out as a shallow, ignorant,callous, hateful, indecent and very dumb and sick individual. Luckily, all of the other people are intelligent, smart, good-hearted and educated human beings which warmed my heart. This is the only good thing that has come out of this whole thing.
It is also astonishing that jury rewarded that bitch summers even though she failed to protect someone under her care, she unlawfully imprisoned and abused her, called another one to sexually assault her. She alsa did violate Mc donalds regulations yet how she got awarded is beyond me. It is a fact that no justice system is perfect but rewarding someone who committed crimes against an innocent person has no place in any justice system yet they did it.
Summers deserves to get fried instead of fired and rewarded. Nix deserves to be put in jail for years for sexually, emotionally abusing an innocent girl. In fact comparing to these two, stewart is less guilty as he was just baiting them. Nix and summers should have refused any and every act stewart told them to do. The police station was very near.
Ogborn did whatever she was asked by summers and nix because she was afraid that it could get worse and because she trusted her manager and because she was naive enough to believe summers would protect her.
I’m very glad to see that the vast majority of people here are real human beings with a brain as oppositely stunned by deceit. Sadly, we have such vile individuals that always support abusers, rapists, child rapists and criminals. If you go to read comments about larry nassar or weinstein and even ted buındy, you will see there are more people than this idiot stunned by deceit which is really sad to see. They all attempt to whitewash nassar, bundy, weinstein etc. yet blame victims. Most likely stunned by deceit and other vile individuals are abused, raped, beaten in their childhoods and they deem this is ok when they see another similar incident. They need to get a pscyhiatric treatment in a clinic rather than airing their stupidity across internet.
Every single person involved in this horrible incident had some kind of issue going on. It was just unfortunate that they all landed in the same room. What is important here is that everyone, and I mean everyone, including the readers, learn something from this.
Donna Jean belongs in jail. Can’t believe she was awarded a million bucks. Glad her pervert boyfriend got 5 years and has to register as a sex offender.
This is crazy. She should be in jail. Not receiving money from McDonalds. Lucky it wasn’t my daughter! Dumb Dumb woman.
This lady getting money for having no common sense and for being a sick in the head person is just horrifying. This lady and her bf should be locked up. Sick people. If that was my kid Ms summers would have gotten more than money.
Who in this case is more egregiously stupid? Donna Jean Summers and her sex-offender boyfriend for being so insanely stupid, and therefore, complicit in this crime, or the jury who decided to awarded Summers $1M after her lawyer dupped them into thinking she was also a victim?
I swear to God, it scares me that I have to share public roads with these mouth breathers.