New York father David Schorr was labelled an “unfit” parent after he refused to take his kid to McDonald’s for dinner. He is now suing court-appointed psychiatrist Marilyn Schiller for defamation.

Mr Schorr, an attorney who lives in Manhattan, New York, told the court that the shrink unfairly called him incapable of taking care of his son just because he did not give in to his temper tantrum when the boy wanted to eat at the fastfood joint, which many have called unhealthy.

According to the suit he filed at the Manhattan Supreme Court, he had planned to take his son to the Corner Cafe on Third Avenue, their usual eating place, during his weekly Tuesday night visitation in late October.

However, the 4-year-old threw a tantrum and demanded that they eat at McDonald’s instead. He told his son he could choose whether to eat dinner anywhere other than McDonald’s or he would have no dinner at all.

He is currently involved in a custody battle with his wife Bari Yunis Schorr after she sued him for divorce in 2011.

“The child, stubborn as a mule, chose the ‘no dinner’ option,” Mr Schorr said in the suit, as obtained by the New York Post.

“I wish I had taken him to McDonald’s, but you get nervous about rewarding bad behaviour. 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 tried to change the boy’s mind about dinner one last time before he dropped him at Ms Schorr’s residence.

Ms Schorr was aghast when the boy told her about what his father did. She called Ms Schiller immediately and took their son to McDonald’s to give him his denied dinner.

According to his suit, Ms Schiller only interviewed the child and his mother. She never asked for his side of the story before she told the court that she was gravely concerned about his parenting style, filing a report saying that he was “wholly incapable of taking care of his son.” She suggested that Mr Schorr should be denied of his weekend visitation, which the father is objecting.

“You’d think it was sexual molestation. I’m just floored by it,” the 43-year-old father told the Post on Thursday.

He has had partial custody of the boy for the past two and a half years, and their time together, other than a scraped knee, “has run smoothly without incident.” He wants Ms Schiller to return the USD2750 he paid for the evaluation.

“I am conducting a forensic evaluation on this matter,” the shrink told paper, saying that she could not comment on the case. “I will be issuing a confidential report to the court and the matter will be tried by the court.”

The estranged couple’s custody trial will resume in December when the judge will ultimately decide whether or not Mr Schorr is truly an unfit parent.

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