Dad Called Unfit for Denying Son McDonald's: Lawsuit

David Schorr is suing psychiatrist over the designation
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2013 8:47 AM CST
Updated Nov 10, 2013 11:25 AM CST
Dad Called Unfit for Denying Son McDonald's: Lawsuit
A car moves through a McDonald's drive through window line, in Springfield, Ill.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

A New York dad is suing a court-appointed psychiatrist for telling a judge he was an unfit parent—because he refused to take his son to McDonald's. David Schorr, who's in the midst of a custody battle, says his son, 4, threw a temper tantrum when his dad wouldn't take him to the Golden Arches. Schorr gave the boy a choice: He could have dinner anywhere else, or skip the meal entirely. Opting for the latter, the son told the tale to his mom, who called child psychiatrist Marilyn Schiller. Her verdict? Schorr is "wholly incapable of taking care of his son" and should be denied weekend visitations, the New York Post reports.

"You'd think it was sexual molestation," Schorr says. "I am just floored by it. ... I think it was a 1950s equivalent of sending your child to bed without dinner. That's maybe the worst thing you can say about it." He now regrets not giving in to his son's request, especially after his estranged wife took the boy to McDonald's afterward, Schorr says. But the toddler had been eating "too much junk food" and "you get nervous about rewarding bad behavior," the defamation suit reads, per the New York Daily News. Schorr is suing Schiller, whom he says never asked for his side of the story, for the $2,750 evaluation fee. A judge is set to decide the custody trial next month. (McDonald's is involved in a lawsuit of its own: Another woman is suing over too-hot coffee.)

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