Michelle ThompsonAccording to the UK CEO, the chain receives one to two complaints on sexual harassment each week.
The CEO of McDonald’s UK informed lawmakers that the fast food giant receives one to two complaints about sexual harassment per week and described the numerous instances of sexual harassment and intimidation of employees at its restaurants as “truly horrific.”
Following a BBC investigation in which the company spoke with over 100 current and former employees, some of whom were as young as 17, McDonald’s, which employs close to 180,000 people in the UK—the majority of whom are young people under 25—is under intense pressure to end widespread sexual harassment and assault, racism, and bullying. The company has 1,450 locations.
McDonald’s UK & Ireland CEO Alistair Macrow said, “The cases are absolutely horrendous,” before members of the Commons commerce and trade committee. To be clear, we will take action against them and will do all within our power to remove them from the company. There’s nothing more significant.
He reported that McDonald’s had received 407 complaints “of all kinds” since July. Of these, 157 had undergone thorough investigations, and 75 had resulted in disciplinary measures, including 18 terminations. In addition to nine bullying instances and one involving racism, there were 17 confirmed occurrences of sexual harassment and 27 cases that were still being looked into. He said that some, but not sure how many, had been reported to the police by private citizens.
To give you an idea of what we see on a regular basis, we usually see 20 to 25 contacts each week, of which one or two would be [about] sexual harassment, Macrow told MPs. Additionally, five would involve bullying.
He added that the UK does not have a specific hotspot. “The restaurants we own are among the entire business from which these cases originate,” he continued.
McDonald’s operates under a franchise model, meaning that independent operators manage the restaurants and hire the personnel. Franchisees operate about nine out of ten branches. According to Macrow, the sexual harassment cases have not resulted in any franchisees losing their contracts.
Following the charges’ public release in late July, Macrow established an investigations section and declared that it will forward the most serious cases to an outside legal team comprised of “specialist investigators.”
According to Macrow, the testimony from McDonald’s employees was “truly horrific” and “very hard to listen [to],” with some of the accusations dating back to the 1980s. Some of the testimony was read aloud during the committee meeting.
Employees at McDonald’s in London have voiced grievances “in every shop,” according to the leader of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union.
The union’s national president, Ian Hodson, told the committee earlier on Tuesday that the committee had received one thousand complaints. He said that they had reported instances of inappropriate language and behavior, as well as groping. According to Hodson, “it was common and normal, which obviously it shouldn’t be.”
Some of the stories, according to him, were “absolutely horrific.” Furthermore, it ought not to occur in the UK in the twenty-first century. A multinational company that employs millions of people worldwide and generates billions upon billions of pounds is unable to safeguard its personnel. It’s really bad. It’s really bad. It ought to take the lead and serve as an example to others. However, they’re not.
Leigh Day, an attorney firm, filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s last Thursday on behalf of many employees of the fast food business.
Emily Martinez
