Exclusive:
Hundreds of teenage workers are suing fast food giant McDonald’s – with some claiming their managers demanded sex in exchange for shifts on the rota – others say they were bullied
As more than 700 teenagers sue McDonald’s over harassment claims, a leading legal expert has slammed the fast food giant for its “abhorrent abuse of power”.
The workers who were 19 or younger when working at McDonald’s have instructed lawyers to take on the company, accusing them of discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism and harassment – with some teens claiming they were asked for sexual favours by their managers in exchange for shifts. Now McDonald’s lack of action has been called out.
“McDonald’s needs to stop paying lip service and start actually doing something to prevent this. How can these young people have been let down so greatly? Why have they not been shielded from such an abhorrent abuse of power?” asks Thomas Beale, the Head of the Bullying & Harassment team at Bolt Burdon Kemp. “McDonald’s was made aware of sexual harassment claims last year, and vowed to do something about it. But actions speak louder than words, and McDonald’s’ response – or lack thereof – to the problem is shameful.
“It is extremely disappointing to hear that McDonald’s has once again fallen short of its commitments to the EHRC and its staff. It is completely unacceptable that such little progress has been made, and it is time to hold the company accountable for its blatant failures. And it is deeply disturbing that junior employees are subjected to sexual misconduct at the hands of managerial staff. This is a clear abuse of power, and is evidently not being adequately addressed within McDonald’s. It is imperative that the company is held accountable for the horrendous treatment of its staff.”
One 19-year-old employee called Matt told a BBC investigation that his colleagues were scared of going into work and that managers would “touch up” some staff. Another former worker, who was identified as Claire, said a shift manager asked her for sex in exchange for extra shifts. She was 17 at the time and he was in his 30s, the former worker said.
Another man, 19, who is currently working at a branch of McDonald’s, said: “I’ve had to deal with homophobic comments from managers and crew members – I feel as though I can’t speak to any managers about it. My manager said if I can’t deal with it, I should just leave the job. Things said to me shouldn’t be said to anyone, I’ve been called names like ‘faggot’. These comments make me feel really uncomfortable – I hate working there.”
Another worker called Matt, who left his job at a McDonald’s branch in the Midlands last year, told the BBC he was bullied for having a learning disability and an eye condition. He said he noticed managers and staff being racist to other workers, and bosses trying to “touch other staff up”.
Leigh Day, the law firm represent hundreds of the claimants said it had received claims of a young worker who was repeatedly pestered for sex, and another who was asked by their manager how many people they had slept with. One claim detailed a manager who would touch young staff inappropriately on their shifts, while another said a manager made racist comments about whether staff would steal from the company because of where they were from.
McDonald’s is one of Britain’s largest employers, with 168,000 people working in 1,450 restaurants. The fast food giant says the average age of its employees is 20. Leigh Day lawyers believe junior crew members and staff at McDonald’s could be entitled to bring claims, regardless of whether they have directly experienced harassment. It said they could have been exposed to a culture of inappropriate conduct, and urged any current staff aged under 20 to join the legal action.
Mr Beale told the Mirror: “Whilst McDonald’s has taken some steps have to improve their confidential reporting mechanisms, it is clear that the underlying workplace culture allowing harmful behaviour to persist has not been adequately addressed. To ensure that employees are protected from further harm, much more needs to be done to ensure that this toxic culture is stamped out.
“With the recent enactment of the Worker Protection Act, McDonald’s must be mindful of its increased obligations to its employees. We should anticipate a significant rise in legal action against the fast-food chain, who has clearly failed in its proactive duty to protect staff from harassment.
“McDonald’s CEO, Alistair Macrow’s assertion that extensive work has been undertaken to eradicate toxic culture is disappointing. McDonald’s has continually fallen short of its commitments to protect its staff from harassment. Unfortunately, this raises serious concerns about the competency and culture within its leadership team. It is necessary for the EHRC to take substantive action to ensure the company is held accountable for its abhorrent failures.”
A McDonald’s spokeswoman said: “Ensuring the 168,000 people that work in McDonald’s restaurants are safe is the most important responsibility for both us and our franchisees, and we have undertaken extensive work over the last year to ensure we have industry leading practices in place to support this priority. Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action.
“Our relentless focus on eliminating all forms of harassment at McDonald’s is led by a newly created team and informed by the experience and guidance of external experts. Working at speed they have already rolled-out company-wide programmes to improve safeguarding, drive awareness and enhance training. We have also recruited our first Head of Safeguarding and in addition to the four speak up channels already available, and have introduced a new, easy to use, digital speak-up channel, Red Flags. This provides employees in all company-owned and franchised restaurants the opportunity to speak up confidentially, at any time, via a channel they are comfortable with.
“Additionally, the Investigations Handling Unit, led by its newly appointed Director and drawing on independent legal experts, is dedicated to rooting out any behaviour that falls below the high standards we demand of everyone at McDonald’s. McDonald’s agreement with the EHRC was signed in early 2023, with the intention that it continues to evolve to ensure the robust measures we have in place are aligned with any updated guidance.
“We are confident that we are taking significant and important steps to tackle the unacceptable behaviours facing every organisation. We are encouraged that our latest anonymous employee survey showed that 92% of our and our franchisees’ people are now comfortable speaking up, and 93% believe management will act. However, we know that we must be constantly vigilant, and we will challenge and confront any behaviour that falls below those standards. We have repeatedly asked the BBC to provide details of the deeply troubling cases they have outlined, to allow us to carry out full investigations, which we have not received. We understand the majority of these cases took place more than 12 months ago.”
