Wedding Photographer liable for bad attitude?

A friend of mine was recently married and stated the wedding

photographer was so obnoxious and arrogant during the dressing,

ceremony and reception, that he essentially ruined the wedding...bride

in tears, etc.

 

For example, he continually yelled at family members, some elderly,

and during the cake shoot he took the knife and stuck it in the cake

without asking for permission, grabbed the brides hand and placed it

on the handle and said "don't move". Afterward, he even started

cutting the cake! They had to physically take the knife from his hand.

There was more bad stuff, predominately being a nasty, bad attitude.

 

My friend called me and asked if there was any legal action which

could be taken against the photographer for "ruining" their wedding. I

asked him how the pics turned out and he said most were okay, which

implies the photographer had discharged his contractural obligation.

 

I used to be a paralegal, and I know that intentional infliction of

extreme emotional distress is actionable in most courts. Of course I'm

not going to give him any legal advice, and I told him he should

consult an attorney. However, this is a grey area of which I would

like to hear your imput. Thanks.

Grey indeed. I'm not a lawyer either, but have a few friends who are... I don't think there's anything actionable here unfortunately. What I would recomend them to do though is report the photographer's behavior to the BBB, as well as any local photo communities. In the long run a bad reputation may serve as a better punishment than a fine.

 

There's really no excuse for that kind of behavior. I'm very sorry to hear of their troubles. Did they meet the photographer first, or just book him via phone/internet? I always recomend an in person meeting to try and get a feel for who's going to be doing the work, as well as the photographer getting a feel of the people he's going to be shooting. Either way though, it saddens me that people can be such jerks.

Not being a lawyer, it sounds like there good grounds to me -- for a public flogging.

 

I think the time to confront the jerk was at the time of the wedding. At this point in time it

is going to be a "he said /she said" kind of thing and while you might have a lot of

witnesses, if the photos are good anyway that might be a point in his favor. There is also

the matter of how much you think the photographer would be able to financially

compensate and would that be enough to recover what they spent and the hassle and

expense of going to court. and then you'd have to collect --so essentially unless really

big money is involved --like over $10K -- your friends will just be adding to their misery

by taking him o court.

 

If the idea to punish the rude photographer/ if so a better choice might be to report him

to the BBB and to let as many of your friends know as possible.

Good question. If I'm not mistaken, he was from a "full service" type company that provides photography, music, etc. As you know, this type of operation pools their photographers and work, so you see an example of the group as opposed to an individual photog. Regardless, this shouldn't have happened.

 

Personally, I would go after him and the company for extreme emotional distress...get affidavits from everyone there.

If any video captured his behaviour that would certainly help any legal case.

We're only hearing one side of the story here, and we're hearing it

second hand, so it's very difficult to come to much of a conclusion,

but...

<p>

Though rudeness and bad attitudes should certainly be

discouraged, the court system isn't the primary place

to do it, IMO. And I find it hard to

imagine that one person's rudeness and bad attitude can "ruin"

a wedding, overcoming all the good energy, joy, and family

fellowship that should be bubbling among the guests on such

a happy occasion. I know that at the weddings in my family,

we might have laughed at him, mocked him behind his back, and

if his behavior really crossed the line we

might have asked him to change his behavior or leave.

We might have even been offended by him, but

under no circumstances would we have allowed any hired

help's impoliteness to ruin a wedding. We don't give

that kind of power to rude people.

<p>

In my completely unprofessional layperson's opinion, knowing

very little of what actually happened, it sounds like the

wedding couple should complain to the people he works for,

perhaps to the BBB, relate her experiences to all the

potential customers she knows, and leave it at that.

sue, my friend, till he is reduced to collecting aluminum cans, sue.

I think Maury Cohen has an excellent idea, video tape it for evidence.<br>

If not, it will be your words against the photographers.<br>

And if you have good pictures... how can you prove bad experience?<br>

If I can find the relatives you have the video clips? I would definitely sue.

Obviously, any legal action would need to be taken on the advice of an attorney.

 

If it's a company with a pool of photographers, they need to know how this one acted. Businesses like that run on recommendations. Unhappy customers have a way of spreading the word as well or even better than happy ones. At a minimum, he should contact them in writing about his concerns. If the photographer is perceived as a representative of the firm, he's going to eventually cause them a lot of trouble. Even if not true, it seems like the story being told is bad. That's not good in a service business.

 

Certainly let the other people involved be aware of the experience and that you couldn't in good conscience recommend that service. The church wedding director/hall manager should be aware (or made aware), just in case. Quite often they will offer suggestions during the planning process. If there is an appropriate newspaper columnist dealing with wedding planning in the area, they might be interested, much like restaurant reviewers like to find out if their suggestions have turned out to be bad, they also like to air disagreements out (not always in public) and try to find ways to keep customers happy, etc.

Since the photographer was not directly contracted, the party to go after is the studio that that the contract was with and he worked for. You will probably get no where with a suit for bad attitude. I have no idea why no one in the wedding party had a few words with the photographer when he started in running things. The place to "get even" is to post about this studio and photographer on the knot.

This really isn't the forum for an authoritative opinion on personal injury law. The bride and groom need to talk to a lawyer- not a former paralegal- in their area, as the justicability of intentional infliction of emotional distress claims varies from state to state.

 

As a lawyer, I would be a bit surprised if the bride and groom found a lawyer to take the case on a contingency. This sounds like a marginal case that could cost the bride and groom several tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees and costs to get tried, with no certainty of recovery.

 

Understand that, generally speaking, intentional infliction of emotional distress requires more than merely rude and annoying behavior:

 

http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/Courses/tortsF01/IIEM.htm

I wonder why the photographer wasn't asked to leave at the point where it turned out that his behavior was unacceptable? Apparently your friend tolerated him during the entire wedding, though his behavior was noted during the dressing already.

omg i think i might know the photog. your talking about, your friends not from the greater rochester ny area are they? cause that'd be kinda funny. lol.

This is insane.

 

LEGAL action for being RUDE and spoiling someone's party? Is that what our society has been reduced to? Well, that, and film vs. digital debates.

 

If he had interfered with the actual ceremony to the point where they could not continue and the marriage did not happen, then you'd have something. If any physical harm was done, then you'd have something. If he had brandished the cake-cutting knife at the bride, then you'd have something (AND a really great story to tell the grandkids!), but to take someone to court because he made a bride cry on the most emotional day of her life, when it is probably all she can do to keep from bursting into tears even when things are going perfectly, well, that's taking things way too far.

 

The best course of action is to get on every bridal message board on the internet and post the TRUTH about this guy AND the company he works for. Rudeness should be punished by public humiliation and shunning, not by adding frivolous lawsuits to an already overburdened judicial system.

Being a (somewhat) recent bride, I really sympathize with your friend's situation- we had a

similar situation with a videographer. However, I don't think that this is cause for legal

action. If the photographer was such a sourpuss, it seems like that is something that they

could have noticed before the day of their wedding. I agree that what you've presented

sounds very unprofessional- and certainly not a characteristic or trait of someone who

enjoys wedding clients or referrals. I think your friend would be best served by filing a

complaint and then moving on- otherwise a court case could lead to months and months

of distress and financial burden. I would file a complaint with the BBB and any other

professional organizations that this photographer is affiliated with- I think a bad

reputation is ultimately a bigger loss to his business.

I've been thinking about your problem.

 

I do not want to encourage you to take legal action. You won't win. the lawyers will win! I am now involved in a 3 years plus vehicle collision suit which seems to have no end in sight and the lawyers are winning...on both sides!

 

Legal suits are not a good way to go. Let it drop.

 

Work on a good wedding contract, and if there are problems at the wedding, bring up those problems at the time of the event.

 

What you described is outrageous, but, I would not try to file a suit.

 

There are many wedding businesses that provide "all services." In my opinion, these are dangerous since you never know who you will have as your photographer. Some of these photographers are college photo students with no wedding experience.

 

In my experience as a photographer for 20 years, I am more concerned about stressed brides and hostile mothers of the bride! (^O^)

 

What I am saying is that wedding photography involves so many more problems than whether or not your flash is working or if the photographer is a bit stressed!

Why not video the event and then post the tape on the web, under the title "my wedding,

photographed by <insert photog's name here>", with no further comments?

Incidently, when it comes to bad-mouthing this guy and/or his service, you should stay within the bounds of good taste and not exaggerate or depart from the truth. Simply saying that there were distinct personality conflicts, an abrasive manner and he had a lot of trouble working well with the bride and family and that you wouldn't recommend him. Even assuming he had videotapes, putting them on the internet is questionable. You don't want to get into a situation where you are accused of defamation.

Do we know how the photographer was treated?

 

It is unlikely he would have just set out that morning to spoil someones wedding! It is more likely that you are not being told all the facts. I agree that bad-mouthing this guy all over the internet is not a good idea.

 

I really want to hear from the photographer on this one.

What i dont understand is why the husband didn't step up and put him in his place "Listen.. we will have our wedding our own way, please don't touch me or my wife, please stand back and shoot photojounalisticly the best you can"

 

hhmm... i dont think we have the whole story.

I was thinking the same as Brandon. Wouldn't somebody, anybody say something to this person? Unless he was one of the bride's jilted lovers taking his revenge then something is not quite right here.

You can't do anything if the guy done his job which was to supply wedding photographs... First thing the judge will want to see is the photos and everything will be judged on those..