Back in December, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Sean Davis posted a video to Snapchat poking fun at a young-looking Chick-fil-A employee. Now, he probably wishes he hadn’t.
On Monday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that a family in Wexford, Pennsylvania has sued Davis for libel, cyberbullying, intentional infliction of emotional distress and slander, claiming their son was subjected to bullying after appearing in Davis’ video. Via the Post-Gazette:
In the video and audio recording, posted to Mr. Davis’ Snapchat social media account, Mr. Davis said “Chick-fil-A got little kids. This kid like eight years old. No wonder the lines be so long at Chick-fil-A.”
The complaint described the teen as “very small for his age, regarding his small stature and youthful appearance.”
The video also “incorporated an emoji of a face laughing until tears were flowing out of its eyes, representing how funny looking he thought minor-plaintiff was,” the complaint continued.
The lawsuit calls Mr. Davis’ actions “extreme and outrageous,” as well as “intentional and/or reckless.”
The lawsuit reportedly claims that the teenager suffered headaches, depression and anxiety from the teasing he endured after the video was posted.
Davis’ defense against the suit is that, as his lawyer told the Post-Gazette, the video was a “commentary on a billion-dollar corporation” that “had nothing in particular to do with this young man.”
Per the Post-Gazzette, the family asked Davis to tape an anti-cyber-bullying PSA, but the player declined, saying he had done nothing wrong. He then invited the boy and two friends to Steelers training camp and his own personal football camp, but the family declined that offer. Thus, the lawsuit.
Davis presumably meant his Snapchat video as an innocent joke and certainly couldn’t have expected to wind up in court over it, but here he is. The lesson as always: be careful what you post.
