Great Britain
More than 700 employees are suing McDonald’s for harassment
Insults and racism: Working at McDonald’s was unbearable for many employees in the UK. Now hundreds are putting pressure on the fast food chain.
More than 700 young workers have sued fast food chain McDonald’s in the UK over alleged workplace harassment. Those affected described cases of “discrimination, homophobia, racism, anti-disability and harassment” in more than 450 British branches of the US company, the law firm Leigh Day said on Tuesday. The lawyers are seeking damages for former and current McDonald’s employees who were under 20 years old when the incidents allegedly occurred.
“I had to deal with homophobic comments from managers and employees,” the law firm quoted a 19-year-old McDonald’s employee as saying in its statement. In another case, a restaurant manager allegedly touched young employees inappropriately during their shift.
McDonald’s sets up complaints office
The harassment allegations were revealed by a report by the British BBC in July 2023, in which alleged victims also had their say. After the allegations became known in 2023, the head of the fast food chain in Great Britain and Ireland, Alistair Macrow, apologized for “clear failures” to protect employees.
“Any incidents of misconduct and harassment are unacceptable and will be investigated and dealt with quickly and thoroughly,” a McDonald’s spokesman said Tuesday. An online reporting system for suspected cases of harassment has been set up to give employees the opportunity to “speak out confidentially”.
McDonald’s has around 170,000 employees in the UK. The fast food chain had already been confronted with harassment allegations in Great Britain in 2019. At the time, the BFAWU union said more than a thousand McDonald’s workers had been victims of sexual harassment.
AFP
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Source: Stern
