More than 700 junior McDonald's employees have joined legal action against the fast food giant following allegations of widespread discrimination, homophobia and sexual harassment at McDonald's restaurants across the UK.
Hundreds of current and former crew members, some as young as 19, have instructed law firm Leigh Day to take action on their behalf, a move backed by the UK More than 450 stores are involved.
The complainants have come forward following an investigation by the BBC a year ago, and the BBC said on Tuesday that despite promises from McDonald's to address concerns after they were first raised, employees at the chain He claimed he continues to face sexual abuse and harassment.
The new allegations and legal claims are likely to center on McDonald's UK boss Alistair McCraw saying: Confront MPs on the Business and Trade Committee Tuesday afternoon. McDonald's is one of the UK's largest private employers, employing 168,000 people across more than 1,400 restaurants.
“We have repeatedly asked the BBC to provide details of the highly troubling incidents they have outlined so that a full investigation can be carried out, but we have not received a response,” McDonald said. We understand that the majority of these incidents occurred more than 12 months ago. ”
One of Leigh Day's customers, 19, said she had received homophobic comments from managers and other crew members.
“I feel like I can't talk to any managers about this,” he said. “My manager told me that if I couldn't handle it, I should quit my job. I shouldn't have told anyone what he said to me. I've been called names like 'fag'. Ta. These comments really make me uncomfortable. I don't like working there. ”
Another customer, who quit his job at a McDonald's branch in the Midlands last year, told the BBC he was bullied because of his learning disability and eye condition. He also said he witnessed managers and staff members being racist toward other employees, and that the manager “attempted to reach out to other staff members.”
Leigh Day said other instances of harassment included young workers being repeatedly asked for sex and asked sexual questions, such as how many people they had slept with.
One manager is said to have preyed on young female employees, and another made racist comments such as threatening employees with stealing from the company because of their background. It is said that
Continued complaints of harassment and discrimination have also attracted the attention of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which said it had received complaints about 300 reported incidents of harassment since the BBC's first investigation in 2023. Announced.
The EHRC said it was stepping up its interventions. “Given the serious allegations raised by our engagement with McDonald's and the BBC investigation, we are actively working with McDonald's to update our ongoing legal agreements,” the watchdog group told the news broadcaster. spoke.
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A McDonald's spokesperson said: “Ensuring the safety of the 168,000 employees who work in McDonald's restaurants is the most important responsibility of both our company and our franchisees, and last year we established a leader in the industry. We have undertaken extensive work to ensure that we support the practice of This priority.
“Any incidents of misconduct or harassment are unacceptable and will be subject to prompt and thorough investigation and action.”
McDonald's announced it has hired its first safety officer and rolled out a company-wide program to improve safety measures, awareness and training. This includes a digital whistleblower channel called Red Flag and an investigative and processing unit “dedicated to eradicating conduct that falls short of the high standards we expect from all McDonald's employees.”
“We believe we are taking significant and significant steps to address the unacceptable behavior faced by all organizations,” the spokesperson added.
“We are thrilled that our latest anonymous employee survey showed that 92% of our company and franchisee employees now feel safe speaking up, and 93% believe management will act. , which is reassuring to us. However, we know that we must remain vigilant and will challenge and confront any behavior that falls short of these standards.”
