Woman sues Chipotle for $2 billion over photo

http://www.foxnews.com …o-in-promo-materials.html

The story reads like she believes her photo is responsible for every cent of the chains profits since the photo was taken in 2006. I'd say she has an extremely high opinion of herself, and her image.

My prediction:
Chipotle will offer to settle this for year's worth of free meals. She will refuse.
Chipotle will then keep her in court until she dies. Which is as it should be.

Billy was right.

If what she says is true, Chipotle is at fault. She deserves compensation, not punishment.

OhLook wrote in post #18237680
If what she says is true, Chipotle is at fault. She deserves compensation, not punishment.

Total agreement. She deserves some compensation. Since she was asked for a release, and refused, her image should not have been used. The amount should be large enough to deter this type of thing. $2B is ridiculous, frivolous. The sole purpose of such an amount is to garner headlines. The intent is to embarrass the defendant, in the hopes of a settlement.

The only thing that complicates this rather simple case is them retouching alcoholic beverages into the image. She should be able to recover a reasonable amount of damages over that as well. There are many other factors other than this sole image that contributed to the company's profits.

The total of the lawsuit should be what a person would be reasonably compensated for a marketing photo, coupled with some small additional damages, some amount attributed to disciplinary action, and legal fees, nothing else. That amount is in no way reasonable, it probably should be around 250k or so when done.

Bassat wrote in post #18237702
Total agreement. She deserves some compensation. Since she was asked for a release, and refused, her image should not have been used. The amount should be large enough to deter this type of thing. $2B is ridiculous, frivolous. The sole purpose of such an amount is to garner headlines. The intent is to embarrass the defendant, in the hopes of a settlement.

Could be, but she did get their attention, didn't she? ; )

PhotosGuy wrote in post #18237797
Could be, but she did get their attention, didn't she? ; )

A lawsuit will always get attention; it has to be responded to if the systems allows it to move forward. 'Their' attention is NOT the point. The number is designed to get the MEDIA's attention. Which guarantees the story a degree of publicity. Which is the plaintiff's goal: embarrass the company into a settlement. My sincere hope is that the judicial system deems this frivolous based only on the amount. It is ridiculous.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18237771
The total of the lawsuit should be what a person would be reasonably compensated for a marketing photo, coupled with some small additional damages, some amount attributed to disciplinary action, and legal fees, nothing else. That amount is in no way reasonable, it probably should be around 250k or so when done.

Suits like this one may also have the purpose of putting businesses in general, not just the sued business, on alert about customers' image rights. For Chipotle to settle quietly and keep its name out of the papers would thwart that purpose. $2B is a starting point for negotiating.

OhLook wrote in post #18237883
Suits like this one may also have the purpose of putting businesses in general, not just the sued business, on alert about customers' image rights. For Chipotle to settle quietly and keep its name out of the papers would thwart that purpose. $2B is a starting point for negotiating.

Which re-inforces my point that the plaintiff is only out for a settlement. $2B is most certainly not a starting point. The plaintiff could call $100K a starting point. Chipotle's initial offer, if there is one, will be based in reality, not the silliness of a $2B lawsuit. My guess is there well NEVER be an offer to settle for $1B, or even $100M. The defendant will weigh cost to proceed, likelihood of losing, and potential damages before making any offer. The amount of the initial claim has no bearing on the incentive to settle. The cost of losing does. No way they will lose $2B. Or even 1/10 of 1% of that.

Bassat wrote in post #18237937
$2B is most certainly not a starting point.

$2B is the figure the plaintiff named before any negotiations occurred. How is it not a starting point?

OhLook wrote in post #18237938
$2B is the figure the plaintiff named before any negotiations occurred. How is it not a starting point?

Perhaps 30 years as a union member has colored my thinking. I suppose I'd have earned a lot more if the APWU had asked for a $10,000/hour COLA instead of CPI -0.5%.

To me, the term 'starting point' implies some degree of honesty and integrity in a negotiation arriving at a valuation that is fair to both parties. The $2B figure is a flight of fancy from the beginning. Neither her, nor her attorneys are actually hoping for anything even remotely approaching that number.

Bassat wrote in post #18237945
To me, the term 'starting point' implies some degree of honesty and integrity in a negotiation arriving at a valuation that is fair to both parties. The $2B figure is a flight of fancy from the beginning.

I see. Unrealistically inflated figures are common in civil suits. It's a different situation from labor/management negotiations.

2bil is ridiculous, but that's how lawsuits tend to go in my experience, especially when you're hoping to negotiate a settlement. Plaintiff asks for ridiculous amount, defendant counters with a lowball amount, then they go back and forth until they end up closer to a reasonable amount for both parties.

I haven't had the luck of working with anything remotely close in scale to a national advertising campaign for that level client, or for that long...but I do know several models who have done much smaller jobs (print ad for example for mid-level retailer to run for max one year nationally) and have seen their checks. One girl got 58k for a job like that for a well known liquor co. I'd say they're probably the same level as a Chipotle, and that was for one year. I think 250k would've been a reasonable amount but she'll probably try to add in all sorts of things like the stress of having to deal with it, and Chipotle acting unethically and whatnot. I wouldn't be surprised if she got closer to 500k when all is said and done.

A starting point in any negotiation should be a reasonable amount, even if it is higher amount than average. $2 billion is just plain silly and would be laughed at by most people.