McDonald’s responds to workers’ sexual misconduct claims
A company statement said there is ‘no place for harassment and discrimination of any kind’ in its locations, but employees in nine cities have filed harassment complaints.
The #MeToo movement is now affecting the largest fast-food chain in the world.
On Tuesday, 10 employees in nine cities—including Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, St. Louis and New Orleans—filed sexual misconduct complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The filings come just before McDonald’s annual meeting, which is set for Thursday.
Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which formed under the National Women’s Law Center as the #MeToo movement rose to prominence, is covering the workers’ legal fees.
The claimants, including a 15-year-old from St. Louis, said in a conference call with journalists that they were ignored, mocked or terminated for reporting the behavior. The accusations included claims that co-workers or supervisors sexually propositioned, groped or exposed themselves to the women.
“I felt I had no choice but to tolerate it,” Kimberley Lawson, 25, who makes $8.75 per hour at a McDonald’s in Kansas City, Missouri, said on a conference call with reporters.
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