#MeToo moment for McDonald’s
The chief executive of McDonald’s is vowing a crackdown on sexual harassment at the Golden Arches in the wake of a report detailing disturbing allegations by female restaurant workers.
“Sexual harassment in the workplace is an affront to everything we stand for as a system,” CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a statement on the fast-food giant’s Web site Sunday.
“It has no place in any McDonald’s restaurant, and it will not be tolerated.”
Kempczinski, who promised the sexualharassment claims will be investigated, issued the post in response to a CBS report on Sunday that profiled female employees who have sued the Chicago-based company over workplace harassment.
The “CBS Sunday Morning” report interviewed four women who described inappropriate touching and sexual comments. One woman said a co-worker used tongs to grab her breast in front of other workers.
Despite complaints to supervisors, the workers’ complaints weren’t rectified, the report said.
McDonald’s has a long history with sexualharassment claims. In May 2018, 10 women who worked at McD’s restaurants across the country filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging a wide range of abuses by their supervisors. And in September 2018, thousands of workers protested workplace offenses in 10 cities.
“Women have reported unwanted hugging, back rubs, spanking, and intentional ‘brushing up’ against them,” ACLU attorney Gillian Thomas wrote in a blog post in January 2019. “Some said they were trapped in supply closets and pestered for dates. One woman alleged that a male manager she worked with threatened to expose his genitals to her.”
Many of the alleged victims were 15, 16 and 17 years old at the time, according to Thomas.