“Man Locked in Burger King Bathroom for an Hour Wants Free Whoppers for Life”

By most injury-suit standards, it’s hardly exorbitant: “Curtis Brooner is only seeking $9,026.16. That is still a lot given the nature of the alleged injury, namely being locked for an hour in the bathroom of a Burger King in Wood Village, Oregon. … Here, though, it’s not the amount but how it was calculated: Mr. Brooner is demanding the equivalent of one Whopper meal per week for the duration of his remaining life expectancy, which he and his attorney estimate will be another 22 years.” [Kevin Underhill, Lowering the Bar]

10 Comments

  • If he was really traumatized he’d never want to see another Whopper again as long as he lived. Case dismissed.

    • Sorry, but we don’t see any correlation between a lock / door handle resulting in being locked in a bathroom and whether you like the food of a place.

      The traumatization was for not getting out of the restroom, not that he was being charged for cheese he didn’t want.

  • I’m curious about the calculation. How do they account for possible future Whopper pricing changes, possible shortened lifespan due to increased Whopper consumption, etc.

    • According to the site below, the average lifespan for a male in the state of Oregon is 77.24 years.

      https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-male

      Various sites have the lifespan of a male in the US being between 76 and 78 years of age.

      By saying that he wants a Whopper until he is 72 is below the life expectancy and may indeed account for the harm a Whopper a week may cause.

      Still, the Burger King made the offer and then backed out of it. They could have gone and said “we didn’t think that you’d eat here every day so can we dial this offer back a little?”

      They cancelled the agreement out of hand.

      (And in our opinion, if Burger King chooses to perform the proposed 1 Whopper meal a week, lawyer should get 30% of the burger, fries and the drink.)

      • Every third week the lawyer gets the Whopper.

  • ” “We determined his life would last 72 years,” the lawyer said, “which is about five years less than average based on his frequent consumption of cheeseburgers.””

    His own lawyer addressed my first thought about Whoppers for life as a death sentence. So be it.

  • They will have to calculate the length by which his lifespan will be reduced by the weekly Whopper.

  • Justice would be to request that they provide a weekly baconator at their local competitor who did not lock him up…

  • I salute him for having a logical method of calculating damages. We can disagree with the method, but at least he didn’t pull whopper of a number out of thin air.

  • If I spent an hour in the bathroom at Burger King, it would likely be because of a Whopper.