Steelers' Sean Davis Sued Over Chick-Fil-A Snapchat Video
A Pittsburgh-area family is suing Pittsburgh Steelers defensive player Sean Davis for allegedly posting a Snapchat video in a Chick-fil-A drive-thru that makes fun of their son. The complaint is centered around the fact that the family's teenage son, who works at a Chick-fil-A in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, was bullied in school after the event on December 11 or December 13.
CBS Sports reports that in the social media video, Davis can be heard saying, "Chick-fil-A got little kids. This kid like eight years old. No wonder the lines be so long at Chick-fil-A." The video is captioned with an emoji of a laughing-crying face. According to the complaint, the emoji represented "how funny looking he thought the minor-plaintiff was."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the unidentified family and their son are claiming libel, cyberbullying, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and slander.
According to documents obtained by the Post-Gazette, the family's attorney, Andrew Leger, wrote in the lawsuit that their son "has been hurt and injured in his good name and reputation," as well as "exposed to public hatred, contempt and ridicule."
Leger claims that the Chick-fil-A employee was abused in school for weeks and subsequently suffered from headaches, depression, sleeplessness, and anxiety.
"From our perspective, it was a commentary on a billion-dollar corporation," said Davis's lawyer, Randy Fisher, the general counsel for MBK Sports Management Group. "It had nothing in particular to do with this young man.
"What they're alleging goes completely against everything Sean stands for and how he lives his life."
The unidentified family has since asked Sean Davis to do a public service announcement denouncing cyberbullying, but Leger says Davis refused and counter-offered with an invite to Steelers training camp for the teen and two friends of his choosing along with an invite to Davis' football camp in Washington, D.C., where he claimed he would address cyber-bullying. The offer was rejected by the family.
The Daily Meal reached out to MBK Sports Management Group, who responded with a press release confirming Davis' intention to contest the allegations. "Mr. Davis denies all of the unfounded claims filed against him and is prepared to defend this meritless lawsuit to the fullest extent under the law," stated MBK's Fisher.
The Daily Meal has also reached out to Chick-fil-A as well as Andrew Leger for further comment on the matter.