Leroy Greer wants on online florist to pay him $1.5 million for not protecting him from his own indiscretions. But while the Texan got a sounding board in an exclusive appearance Monday on TODAY, he didn’t get much in the way of sympathy.
“He’s talking about a contract he entered into with 1-800-FLOWERS,” clinical sexologist Ian Kerner told TODAY’s Natalie Morales after Greer had argued his case. “Excuse me, the main contract was the contract with his wife. The first breach of any contract was infidelity, and like so many cheaters, he’s looking to lay guilt at the feet of others and to profit from it.”
Not so, Greer told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira. He explained that he was separated from his wife and living at a different address when he called 1-800-FLOWERS to order a bouquet of roses for his girlfriend.
Greer says he was assured that none of the information about the transaction would be sent to his wife’s home.
But when the florist sent a thank-you note for the order, his wife called the company to find out to whom the flowers had been sent. She received a receipt and a copy of the note he sent with the flowers.
The discovery that Greer had a girlfriend turned the divorce from a negotiation into a battle. “I wasn’t cheating at the time the roses were sent,” said Greer, who is a luxury car sales manager in Houston. “We weren’t even together. We were in the midst of a divorce. That wasn’t even my address.”
Buyer beware?
Greer is suing for $1.5 million to cover damages and mental anguish, saying he’s been held up to ridicule in the media and on the Internet since the story came out.
“We are not responsible for an individual’s personal conduct,” the florist has said in a statement released to the media.
“It’s going to cost Mr. Greer at least a half a million dollars,” his attorney, Kennitra Foote, said, referring to the divorce settlement. “Mr. Greer has suffered immeasurably. His wife doubled the amount of money she was requesting.”
So does Greer have a case?
“I don’t think he has a leg to stand on, nor should he,” TODAY’s legal expert, former judge and prosecutor Jeanine Pirro told Morales. “The guy is trying to make a million and a half dollars for cheating on his wife and getting caught.”
“A lot of people are saying you got what you deserved,” Vieira told Greer. “You got caught cheating, and you should swallow it like a man.”
“That’s not what happened,” said Greer, who explained that when he ordered the flowers he repeatedly asked whether his confidentiality would be protected and was assured that it would.
“If that were the case, 1-800-FLOWERS would never have heard from me,” he complained.
Pirro said the only contract Greer had with 1-800-FLOWERS was for the delivery of the roses in return for his payment. “There is no other contract,” she said. “For him to ascribe guilt to the florist is just ridiculous.”