File under I for Inconceivable. (from archaica)

[verbicide]

An elaborate hoax convinced managers in fast-food restaurants across the country to perform strip-searches and other atrocities on employees based on the belief they were following instructions from a police officer. In a real-life twist on the Milgram experiments—without the convenience of faux victims—McDonald's, Wendy's, and others face numerous lawsuits.

As shocking as it is this happened once, it's inconceivable(!) that it happened repeatedly.

[x-posted to nnn]

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Unbelievable. I can almost accept strip-searching a possible thief; it's all kinds of violations of civil rights, but a manager might not know that. But - spanking a 17-year-old? Stripping in front of a young employee? Stripping a *fourteen-year-old* CUSTOMER naked?!

....wow.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

No, exactly. As I sat here, growing more and more incredulous, I thought, exactly that.

Maybeit's not outside the realm of possibility to believe someone over the phone is telling you that you have to strip search someone, but I imagine I'd be freaked out enough to tell the 'officer' that he needed to send a cop down to the restaurant, because I couldn't do it. As a manager or supervisor, I wouldn’t want to do something that potentially risky (because this person is allegedly a criminal, right?) that could put me at legal risk if I did it wrong. But, I can't fathom the manager's boyfriend who believed a cop would demand that he sodomize someone, let alone a crying, unwilling teenager, and also believe he needed to hide his actions every time the manager came into the room.

I think in some of these cases, especially for the hoaxed people committing the sexual atrocities, in some of these cases, I think they were somewhat motivated by a perverse fascination of what they were allowed to do.

I can’t get over it. How utterly fucked up.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you've hit it dead on. Especially the "somewhat motivated by a perverse fascination of what they were allowed to do" - they'd never do such a thing on their own, they probably didn't even fantasize about it, but with an authority figure giving them permission, nay, *ordering* them to do it....

I've heard of others, particularly school teachers/principals, who strip-searched children who'd been suspected of stealing, so I figure that (as incomprehensible as it is to those of us with even a glimmer of an idea of the law), some people do think of that as a plausible or justifiable response.

The rest, though.... Keeping a naked, sobbing, 90-pound teenager prisoner for hours is unconscionable. So is, obviously, sodomizing a girl, performing cavity searches, fighting off a 15-year-old girl's father in order to continue to "search" her.... That can't ALL be "obedience to authority."

(I'd still punish these managers more lightly than someone who did such things under their own initiative, but I wouldn't let them off the hook completely.)

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

First of all, I need to remember to proof my comments before hitting send, because god there are an appalling number of typos in my response.

Secondly, I agree. I'd punish the managers more lightly, but they are still culpable. From a more detached pov, I'd be curious to see what the long term psychological ramifications are of this. I mean, from the true victims perspective, it's clear--like in the case of that poor kid who's been through numerous therapists and medications and will likely be scarred for life. But I wonder how the people who were conned will sleep at night. Especially some of the guys like Nix who appeared to take complete leave of his senses until he walked out of there.

I wish I knew more details about some of the cases, because it's just hard to fathom how a 'cop' convinced someone that a blowjob was part of their civic responsibility. Gah.

Re: Worse than chains

[archaica.livejournal.com]

It's amazing what people will do when they can get away with it.

Re: Worse than chains

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

No. Kidding.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

It really would be interesting to see how this warps the people who were "victim-perpetrators."

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

Now we can understand how the Nazis succeeded so well. Why do I have a bad feeling that this will turn up as a "Law and Order" episode?

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I thought that, too. "I wonder when this'll pop up on Law & Order."

Worse than chains

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Jesus. I can't help thinking this is tied in with the sort of mindless groupthink that makes people tend to rally around Bush. Official sounding person maing an accusation and giving in orders? Better obey!

Re: Worse than chains

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

It's just so hard to relate.

When I was visiting my folks, we got a phone call from someone claiming to be from GitMo. And they hung up pretty quickly when I was insisting they give me some reasonable explaination for why they were calling, etc.

I think they saw my last name, took a stab at our ethnicity and wanted to see if they could freak us out.

Re: Worse than chains

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think for a lot of people "foreign" counts for an ethnicity. "Presumed foreign", even. Heck, "slightly different" is enough for some people to consider someone a threat and worthy of harrassment.

Re: Worse than chains

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Looking at the article more closely, it looks like a case of plain pervasive stupidity in face of perceived authority, as it's been going on for a long time. Bah.

Re: Worse than chains

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

With lawsuits underway, you'd think the restaurants that had been hit already would have blanketed every single franchise with information and warnings.

Re: Worse than chains

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

plain pervasive stupidity in face of perceived authority

I think verbicide's right that there's also an element of "perverse fascination," involved, but it's hard not to relate this--as a psychological phenomena--to the things that happened at Abu Gurhaib: all of the same elements were there--not-too-highly-educated guards, a seeming blank check from authority, and, yes, "perverse fascination" with being able to do all kinds of forbidden things.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

That's fucking sick. This is why I don't trust humans, nor am I a "good girl."

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I know. It's unfathomable.