Psychiatrist said dad 'unfit' for refusing to take son to McDonald's

NEW YORK, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A defamation lawsuit in New York alleges a court-appointed psychiatrist told a judge a man who refused to take his son to McDonald's was an unfit parent.

David Schorr, 43, a Manhattan attorney, filed a lawsuit in city Supreme Court alleging court-appointed psychiatrist Marilyn Schiller filed a report in his custody battle saying he was "wholly incapable of taking care of his son" and should be denied weekend visitation rights for refusing to take his 4-year-old son to the fast-food restaurant, the New York Post reported Friday.

Schorr said the incident in question involved his son throwing a temper tantrum during a Tuesday night visitation last week when he refused to take him to McDonald's.

Schorr said he told the boy they could go to any restaurant other than McDonald's, but if his son would not consent to another restaurant, there would be no dinner.

"The child, stubborn as a mule, chose the 'no dinner' option," Schorr said in the lawsuit. "It was just a standoff. I'm kicking myself mightily.

"I wish I had taken him to McDonald's, but you get nervous about rewarding bad behavior. I was concerned. 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 said.

Schorr said the child's mother made sure he did not learn any lessons from the incident.

"My wife immediately took him to McDonald's," Schorr said.

Schorr said he regrets his decision, but Schiller's report amounts to defamation.

"You'd think it was sexual molestation," Schorr said of the psychiatrist's report of his actions. "I am just floored by it."