McDonald’s Workers File Class Action Suit Alleging Culture Of Sexual Harassment

Michigan McDonald’s workers filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday morning, alleging that the company has a systemic sexual harassment problem. The class-action suit was filed with support from the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the labor group Fight for $15.

Jenna Ries, the former McDonald’s worker who is the named plaintiff in the suit, also filed charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a precursor to filing civil rights charges in federal court.

In one alleged incident, a manager cornered Ries, 32, in a walk-in freezer, pinning her against a wall. “I lived in constant fear of losing my job,” she said on a Tuesday press call.

The lawsuit comes a little more than a week after the fast-food restaurant ousted CEO Steve Easterbrook for having a relationship with a subordinate employee, which violates the company’s nonfraternization policy.

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McDonald’s board concluded that the relationship between Easterbrook and the unidentified staffer was consensual,  the Wall Street Journal reported, but that it raised questions about the CEO’s judgment regarding his personal affairs and corporate conduct. As part of his exit package, Easterbrook could pocket as much as $85 million worth of stock and options.

The class action lawsuit is the latest in a string of sexual harassment complaints against the burger chain. At least 50 workers have filed sexual harassment charges against McDonald’s in state courts or with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the past three years.

In May, the American Civil Liberties Union and Fight for $15 announced 23 new complaints against McDonald’s—20 of them filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Three of the complaints were filed as civil rights lawsuits, and two stemmed from previous allegations.

Workers at the fast-food restaurant went on strike in September 2018 and protested again in May 2019 to draw attention to harassment, calling on the company to do more to prevent it.

“McDonald’s is committed to ensuring a harassment and bias-free workplace,” Easterbrook wrote in a May 2019 letter addressed to author and actress Padma Lakshmi, who attended a Chicago rally in front of the company’s headquarters. 

The company, which has more than 14,000 locations in North America, has long held that it is not responsible for the labor practices and treatment of employees at its franchisees’ stores. 

The company’s position regarding its franchisees is “ridiculous,” says Eve Cervantez, an attorney with the Altshuler Berzon law firm, which represents many of the McDonald’s workers who have filed complaints in recent years. 

Workers apply for jobs at McDonald’s either through its website or in stores that are plastered with McDonald’s logos,  she says, and they are led to believe that they will work at a big corporation with a human resources department ready to help them if something illegal happens.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told Forbes that all franchisees must fully comply with laws on sexual harassment and that, under their franchise agreements, failure to do so results in serious consequences, up to and including revocation of the franchise.

The National Labor Relations Board is currently reviewing a case that could decide whether McDonald’s is a joint employer of its franchisee staff. If it is found to be a joint employer, that would mean that the company bears some responsibility for working conditions. 

Lawmakers have also weighed in on McDonald’s handling of sexual harassment. Since June, more than 56 members of Congress and 115 local elected officials have signed letters demanding that McDonald’s meet with workers to craft tougher policies aimed at stamping out harassment.

The restaurant industry has historically been a hotbed of harassment. A 2016 survey of female fast-food workers in nonmanagerial positions found that 40% of them had experienced unwanted sexual behaviors on the job, and women of color were especially likely to be subjected to retribution for speaking up about unwanted sexual attention. Thirty-four percent of African-American women and 26% of Latinas reported at least one negative action, compared with 17% of white women, according to the survey.