Company ATTACKED For Having Same Name As US Open Hat Snatcher

Company ATTACKED For Having Same Name As US Open Hat Snatcher

“We make solar panels, not snatch hats from children,” says baffled business owner.

In the bizarre and ever-escalating fallout from the viral US Open hat-snatching incident, an innocent company is now facing online fury — all because they share a name with the now-infamous CEO who stole a signed hat from a child on live TV.

The company in question? Szczerek Solutions, a small Polish renewable energy firm with absolutely zero connection to disgraced tech exec Piotr Szczerek — other than, unfortunately, the same last name.

“People are leaving 1-star reviews saying we hate children.”

According to Marcin Kowalski, founder of Szczerek Solutions, the firm has received over 300 angry emails, dozens of 1-star Google reviews, and even a voicemail that simply said:

“Hope your solar panels get stolen like that poor kid’s hat.”

“We’re an engineering company. We install solar panels. We don’t attend tennis matches. We don’t steal things. We don’t even wear hats,” said Kowalski in a baffled but polite statement posted to the company’s website.

Internet Confusion Turns Into Chaos

After the clip of Piotr Szczerek snatching the signed hat from 10-year-old Ethan went viral, it didn’t take long for the outraged masses of the internet to take action. Unfortunately, some didn’t bother to verify they had the right “Szczerek.”

The result? A completely unrelated company was dragged into the chaos — and it’s becoming a familiar story in the age of viral justice.

One confused tweet, posted by a user with 200,000 followers, read:

“BOYCOTT @SzczerekSolutions — this is NOT how CEOs should behave!! #HatSnatcher #BanThisCompany”

The tweet received 40,000 likes before it was deleted — but the damage was done.

“We thought it was a phishing attack… then we realized it was worse: Twitter.”

The company initially believed it had been hacked when dozens of bizarre messages started pouring in through their contact form.

“At first we thought someone ran a botnet on us,” says Kowalski. “Then we saw the messages saying things like, ‘Hope your business fails, hat thief.’ That’s when we googled ‘Szczerek hat’ and… wow. Just wow.”

PR Nightmare for the Wrong People

While the real Piotr Szczerek — former CEO of Neurovia Technologies — has been fired and publicly disgraced, Szczerek Solutions is left picking up the pieces of a PR mess they didn’t cause.

“We don’t even know this guy,” said a clearly exhausted office manager during a local news interview. “Please stop sending us pictures of crying children. We install green energy systems. That’s it.”

A Teachable Moment?

Experts say this isn’t the first time internet outrage has hit the wrong target — and it won’t be the last.

“The mob moves fast and checks facts later,” says digital ethics researcher Lena Yu. “Unfortunately, algorithms don’t care who’s right. They care who’s viral.”

The Real Victim? Ethan’s Hat… and This Solar Company

While young Ethan has now received a heartfelt gift package from Carlos Alcaraz, including a signed racket, VIP tickets for next year’s Open, and a replacement hat, Szczerek Solutions is still working on recovering from the flood of fake reviews and bad press.

They’ve since pinned a message to their homepage that reads:

“⚠️ We are not affiliated with Piotr Szczerek or any hat-related incidents at the US Open. We just want to make the world greener — not meaner.”

Moral of the story?

Before you cancel someone — double-check their LinkedIn.