While anxiously waiting in a Jury Pool of 24 last month at the US District Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, I learned that I was going to take part in a social media free speech or defamation case between Steak ’n Shake vs. Melissa White, a former server and cook.

The crux of the civil case stems from a January 5, 2018, Facebook post by Melissa White who worked at the Florissant Steak ’n Shake. She posted this message with photos claiming to show worms in the restaurant meat:

“#SHARESHARESHARE JUST GOT FIRED ??FROM STEAK N SHAKE IN FLORISSANT ON FLORRISANT AND LINBERGH ROAD BECAUSE I FOUND LIVE WORMS WHILE COOKING A STEAKPATTY MOVING INSIDE OF IT AND REFUSED TO SELL THAT MEAT….. WELL RIGHT NOW #RIGHTNOW THEY ARE STILL SELLING SAME MEAT #NOONEEVENCHECKEDIT. I JUST DONT WANT EVERYONE GETTING SICK. I JUST GOT FIRED FOR NOTHING I HAVE A FAMILY THIS SHIT IS NOT RIGHT I DID NOTHING WRONG.” 

The above post generated more than 36,000 shares and nearly 800 comments. And, within 2 weeks, Steak ’n Shake filed suit against Ms. White due to her refusal to take down the post.

From my perspective, I was looking forward to this day. For decades, I’ve been addicted to legal dramas on TV. In fact, I wrote this on April 29^th when I received the US Federal Letter for Jury Duty: “Proud to Serve!

I am fascinated with watching crime and legal dramas from All Rise, Law and Order SVU, Bull, Suits, For the People, and many, many others. I have always thought it would be fascinating to help serve justice as a Juror. Well, I have been called up for Federal Jury Service for 2-weeks in June.

Is it weird that I’m actually looking forward to this?”

From first impressions, I was honestly impressed with every interaction I had from the guards at the Front desk to the Jury Pool Clerks and when Chief Magistrate Judge Shirley Mensah spoke to reassure and educate the pool on their responsibilities, I felt like she embodied Judge Lola Carmichaels’ courtroom on All Rise. She was amazing! At one point, I allowed my self-conscious to consider that I was an extra on her TV show. But, with 24 jurors in the pool, only 8 were to be selected from a hugely diverse cross section of Eastern Missouri. The process was intriguing, enlightening, and honorable. I got the opinion that everyone in the pool thought the same way about the process.

While in Judge Stephen R. Clark 14^th floor courtroom, all 24 of the potential jurors were socially distanced throughout the entire courtroom. Both sides got 20 minutes each to ask perspective Jurors questions. The only questions I answered were “How many books do you read a year and what type of books do you read?” – My answer was about 20-30 and mostly business books. The second question I answered was “Have you ever held a position of authority where you had to conduct investigations?” My answer was that while working for the Governor of Missouri from 1995-1997, I was a Constituent Liaison. In that role, I conducted citizen inquiries into ongoing issues with the state. Some of those inquiries caused me to investigate issues centered around child abuse and child support cases, inmate issues, economic development issues, and the list goes on and on.

Just like in the TV Show Bull, you learned a lot about the individuals in the jury pool by the questions asked. However, you could tell that Ms. White’s attorney was probably a pro-bono attorney that was a novice, sometimes getting confused in asking questions and/or asking the same questions twice. Her defense team seemed young and filled with volunteers ‘helping’ on the case.

Since high school Journalism class in Mr. Byron Clemens classroom, I remember being taught about libel, slander, and defamation. My profession of Public Relations, optics, and social influencing as the owner of a Public Relations firm, I was enthralled that I might be chosen for a high-profile civil case.

Judge Clark instructed the jury pool that this case would have a minimum of 22 witnesses and was scheduled to take approximately 4+ days to complete. Only one of the potential jurors stated that may be an issue, however, the judge did not excuse that person. I absorbed everything within the 1 ½ hours in the courtroom. But, unfortunately, I was not chosen as one of the 8 lucky jurors. Interestingly enough, one individual chosen for the jury was a USDA Federal Food Inspector who had previously worked at Steak ’n Shake.

I made no assumptions about the case prior to being excused from the jury pool. From observing the half dozen polished lawyers on Steak ’n Shake’s side, it appeared they had a solid case. And, on the flipside, you had Ms. White who is a fired, minimum-wage type employee making accusations on social media, probably without the understanding and where withal about legal ramifications about making serious claims on social media because of a lack of understanding about the US Constitution’s First Amendment regarding Freedom of Speech.

I’ve listened to second guessing commentary on St. Louis on the Air’s Legal Roundtable, seen coverage on Fox 2 News and in the St. Louis Post Dispatch regarding this case. You can click here to view the Opinion of the Court by Judge Stephen R. Clark.

I would have loved to be in the courtroom that week to witness the proceedings and evaluate the evidence on my own. Simply seeing the limited facts on both sides, I could assume that IF I found Ms. White guilty, I would have probably pushed for $1 in damages in the hopes that she learned her lesson and what you say on social media is not protected under the First Amendment. Let’s face it, this woman’s life has been turned upside down over the last 3 years of this incident. She’s had to get legal counsel, spend dozens if not hundreds of unpaid hours preparing for the trial though COVID, and has now suffered the humiliation that after all those witnesses, 8 jurors found her in the wrong. Simply put, a very diverse group of citizens found her guilty thereby issuing a verdict of $70,000 in actual damages and $10,000 in punitive damages. This verdict has ruined Ms. White’s life for at least 10 years, especially if she files bankruptcy.

I value that the verdict is right and just under US Federal Law. But, this case is a Lose, Lose, Lose type of case. Yes, Steak ’n Shake won but they will probably see no monetary compensation. Ms. White, as a minimum wage employee will probably have to file bankruptcy due to the verdict. She now has to live with the fact that a jury of her peers does not believe her. And, Steak ’n Shake will continue to shutter more stores in St. Louis and lose more court cases such as the May 10^th, 2021 case where a US District Judge issued a $7.7 Million judgement against Steak ’n Shake for failure to pay overtime for managers.

The historical moral of THIS story is that you cannot make false or libelous claims on social media. You do not have Freedom of Speech when making misleading, illegal or bogus claims. You can and should pay a price.

I still contend that it was an honor to serve in the U.S. Federal Jury Pool on what would have been a very interesting Civil Case for Libel. I would have loved to have been on the jury but out of the 24 people in the pool, they chose 8 others.

Chris Kuban started Chemistry PR and Multimedia with a vision to effectively formulate corporate and non-profit brands across the country. In doing so, he has become an expert in Media Relations, Event Management, Social Media implementation and video production. He engages, coordinates and oversees a diverse team of local and national suppliers, vendors, employees and consultants, allowing him to successfully coordinate over 120 national events focusing on overall logistics, media relations and his clients’ expected ROI. Follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.