McDonald's faces 25 lawsuits in 22 states by workers alleging sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination and retaliation if they complained
- McDonald's Corp. says it's enhancing training and offering a new hotline for workers in response to mounting allegations of sexual harassment
- On Tuesday, the labor group Fight for $15 filed 25 sexual harassment charges against McDonald's with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- It's the third time in three years that the group has filed harassment charges on behalf of McDonald's workers
- Some workers say they were demoted or fired when they complained
- The fast food chain says it sent posters to its 14,000 U.S. restaurants clearly defining harassment and offering the hotline, which is managed by a third party
- In August, it will begin training store workers about harassment and bias
McDonald's Corp was accused on Tuesday in 25 new lawsuits and regulatory charges of condoning sexual harassment in the workplace and retaliating against employees who speak up.
The cases announced by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the labor group Fight for $15, and the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund cover alleged misconduct at McDonald's locations in 20 U.S. cities, including groping, indecent exposure, propositions for sex, lewd comments and retaliation against those who complained.
McDonald's is one of the world's most recognizable brands, and the cases make the fast-food chain a primary target of a campaign to extend the #MeToo movement, which sprung from sexual harassment cases in Hollywood, to the workplace.
A McDonald's employee holds a sign during a protest against sexual harassment in the workplace, in Chicago, Illinois. McDonald's workers filed dozens of new sexual harassment charges against the fast food giant
Lawsuits and complaints against McDonald's reflect 'the brutal reality' of sexual harassment facing low-wage workers generally and at that fast-food chain in particular
Demonstrators march in front of the McDonalds Headquarters demanding a minimum wage of $15-per-hour and union representation. McDonald's recently announced that the company would no longer lobby against increases in minimum-wage
The Chicago-based company said it has more than 14,000 locations in the United States with some 850,000 workers and has limited authority over the personnel decisions of its US franchisees - independent businesses that operate more than 90 percent of its US restaurants.
More than 90 percent of the locations are franchised, and McDonald's has long maintained it should not be liable for how employees in franchised restaurants behave.
Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said his company has improved and more clearly defined its harassment policies, has trained most franchise owners, and will be training front-line employees and setting up a complaint hotline.
'The McDonald's system has always had an unyielding commitment to providing a safe and respectful work environment for all,' Easterbrook said in the letter.
Share this article
In a letter addressed to Padma Lakshmi, an actress and TV host active in the Time's Up initiative, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook said the company 'is committed to ensuring a harassment and bias-free workplace.
McDonald's CEO Stephen Easterbrook wrote a letter that explained how his company is implementing new educational training modules on harassment, unconscious bias and workplace safety, and offer franchise operators a third-party hotline for reporting complaints
The protesters say despite sexual harassment complaints in previous years, 'the company has failed to address the pervasive problem of sexual harassment across its restaurant chain.'
'McDonald's is sending a clear message that we are committed to creating and sustaining a culture of trust where employees feel safe, valued and respected,' Easterbrook wrote in letters this week to Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and 'Top Chef' host Padma Lakshmi, who supports the workers' cause.
The 25 cases include three new lawsuits, two by workers who previously filed charges, and charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
McDonald's has faced more than 50 such charges and lawsuits in the last three years, the ACLU said. Last September, McDonald's workers in 10 cities staged a one-day strike to protest alleged sexual harassment.
Workers say little if anything has changed the complaints were filed.
Dozens of workers also protested in front of the company's headquarters in Chicago, two days before its annual shareholders' meeting, tying their efforts to the #MeToo movement
Many of the cases are still pending -- two have advanced to lawsuits, joining three other lawsuits filed outside of EEOC review, according to workers' advocates who claim McDonald's has not done enough to address their concerns.
'We can find no one who has heard of a new policy or training initiative,' said Gillian Thomas, an attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project, which is helping the workers.
Workers are demanding the right to help craft sexual harassment policies and for the corporation to assert control over the personnel decisions of franchisees.
Their demands are part of a unionization effort of McDonald's workers known as 'Fight for $15' -- an initiative begun in 2012 with demands for a $15 minimum wage.
The Time's Up legal defense fund, created to help workers who don't have deep pockets to fight sexual harassment, is bankrolling the effort.
Dozens of workers also protested in front of the company's headquarters in Chicago, two days before its annual shareholders' meeting, tying their efforts to the #MeToo movement.
Jamelia Fairley, a single mother who makes $9.60 an hour at a corporate-owned McDonald's in Sanford, Florida, told reporters she went to the EEOC after a co-worker began groping her, rubbing against her and saying he could 'give me a ride.'
'I was subjected to a humiliating and intimidating environment at McDonald's and managers did nothing to stop it,' said Fairley, a worker of a Florida store.
She said that after she reported the harassment, McDonald's transferred but did not fire her harasser, while her boss cut her weekly hours to seven from 25,
'Trying to raise a 2-year old on $67 a week is, well, I can't do it,' Fairley said.
Sharyn Tejani, director of the Time's Up fund, which is part of the National Women's Law Center, said having to put up with workplace harassment should not be a cost of making a living.
'For McDonald's, time is past up,' she said.
