Hundreds of current and former McDonald’s employees – some as young as 19 – have joined legal action against the fast food giant over allegations of bullying, sexual abuse and harassment across more than 450 UK outlets.
The complaint, filed through law firm Leigh Day, follows a new wave of allegations emerging from a BBC investigation. The broadcaster reported that workers at McDonald’s faced “unacceptable” behavior despite promises the company made last year to tackle such issues.
The developments come as Alistair Macrow, CEO of McDonald’s in Britain, prepares to testify before the business and trade committee of MPs, who are expected to ask how the fast-food chain handled the alleged misconduct. McDonald’s, one of Britain’s largest private sector employers, with 168,000 employees and more than 1,400 restaurants, said it had urged the BBC for details of the reported cases “to enable us to conduct a full investigation “, but that it had not yet received it.
A 19-year-old claimant told Leigh Day he had been the victim of homophobic abuse from managers and fellow staff, including being insulted as a ‘faggot’. Another claimant said he was bullied because of his learning disability and eye condition, and that managers ‘touched other staff’ and made racist comments. Other examples include a young employee being pressured for sex and a manager making insulting references to staff based on their nationality.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it has received around 300 reports of harassment at McDonald’s restaurants since the original BBC investigation. It has escalated its intervention, saying it is working “to update our ongoing legal agreement in light of serious allegations raised by our work with the company and the BBC investigation”.
McDonald’s insists it is committed to protecting staff and has improved its reporting structures, including the introduction of a digital whistleblowing platform called Red Flags and a dedicated investigation team. It said it had hired its first chief of security and was “confident” it was taking “significant and important steps” toward eliminating abuse.
Emma Cocker, Senior Associate in the Employment team at Lawrence Stephens Solicitors, noted that workers on zero-hours contracts can feel particularly vulnerable. “They are probably afraid of being subjected to harmful treatment for filing complaints,” she said. “It appears that McDonald’s still has a long way to go when it comes to providing a safe work environment. The longer companies allow this type of behavior to continue, the longer the list of complaints and legal claims they will face.”