- McDonald’s employees allege toxic culture of assault, harassment, bigotry, and bullying
- Numerous claims of sexual assault, harassment, racism, and homophobia reported
- Employees accuse managers of ignoring complaints and fostering a hostile work environment
A toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, bigotry, and bullying has been alleged by more than one hundred current and former McDonald’s employees in the United Kingdom.
Employees, some as young as 17, are frequently groped and harassed.
McDonald’s acknowledged that it had “fallen short” and “sincerely apologized.”
It was added that all employees had the right to a safe, respectful, and inclusive workplace.
After the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) promising to safeguard its employees from sexual harassment.
McDonald’s asserted at the time, “We already have a strong track record in this area.”
Our investigation, however, has uncovered an entirely different scenario.
We sought out McDonald’s employees over the course of five months to inquire about their experiences working there. 31 of the more than 100 claims made by employees with whom we spoke involved sexual assault, while 78 involved sexual harassment.
In addition, we heard 18 allegations of racism and six allegations of homophobia.
Multiple employees told us that McDonald’s managers across the United Kingdom were liable for the assaults and harassment.
Too frequently, senior managers are alleged to have failed to respond to complaints.
Furthermore, employees have been informed of sexual relationships between managers and novice employees, which is against company policy.
Young women have reported feeling continually judged based on their appearance.
A current employee reported that her male coworkers viewed her as “fresh meat” when she first began working at her Nottingham branch. Other female employees told us that administrators forced them to wear uniforms that were too tight.
“There is a saying at McDonald’s, ‘tits on tills’ – boys in the kitchen, ladies behind the counter. The plan is to place attractive people in the front,” said Lucy, who worked in Norwich and was 22 years old.
Emily, age 20, added, “If you work at McDonald’s, it is expected that you will be harassed.” She quit her branch in Brighton last year after a male colleague in his sixties repeatedly made her feel uncomfortable by touching her hair in a sexually suggestive manner.
McDonald’s is one of the greatest private employers in the United Kingdom. The fast-food behemoth employs over 170,000 individuals in 1,450 restaurants.
It also employs one of the youngest workforces in the country. Three-quarters of its workforce is between the ages of 16 and 25. It is, for many, their first job.
McDonald’s utilizes a franchise system, meaning that individual operators are licensed to operate the restaurants and employ the employees.
I went to work with dread.
Last year, Shelby began working at a McDonald’s restaurant in Berkshire at the age of sixteen.
She claimed that older male coworkers would use the cramped kitchen as a pretext to inappropriately touch junior female employees.
She stated, “They’d grope stomachs, waists, and buttocks.” Every shift I worked, I received at least a comment, was brushed, had a hand brushed across me, or was subjected to something more severe, such as having my buttocks or hips grasped.
Young employees were “warned” not to associate with a particular male in his 50s, according to Shelby.
She stated that he approached her from behind while she was standing at the front counter last summer and pulled her onto his groin.
“I just froze,” she exclaimed. “I felt disgusted.”
Shelby claims that she informed senior management of the situation in the store, but nothing was done. She cited a “toxic work environment” in her resignation email.
McDonald’s expressed “profound sorrow” upon learning of Shelby’s ordeal. It added that it was investigating why her concerns were not escalated formally at the time.
Managers averting their eyes
We are unaware of how many of the employees with whom we spoke filed formal complaints. However, several of them told us they did, only to be ignored.
In the case of Chinyere, a 17-year-old in Cheshire who was sexually and racially accosted by a much older man, she initially reported the incident to a female colleague responsible for staff welfare. She advised her to disregard the man’s behavior and return to work. After months of harassment, Chinyere confided in her stepfather, who subsequently sent letters to the franchise, corporate headquarters, and the authorities.
Then, the man was dismissed. Chinyere believes that nothing would have transpired if her stepfather had not intervened. McDonald’s characterized her experiences as “abhorrent and unacceptable” and apologized without qualification. The company said it fired the employee three days after learning about the incident. They added, “It takes a great deal of courage to speak up, and as soon as we were made aware of the situation, the individual in question was offered both internal and independent external support.”
Another Birmingham employee reported being smacked by a male coworker when she was 19.
She stopped because she had a bruise and was caught on tape.
Several employees also reported that when complaints were lodged against managers, they were transferred from one McDonald’s restaurant within the franchise to another as opposed to being terminated.
Others stated that they did not complain because they could not risk losing their jobs. Young employees at McDonald’s frequently have zero-hour contracts, which means their schedules are flexible but they are at the whim of shift managers who determine their rotas.
