Former McDonald’s employees who have alleged sexual harassment at their Michigan restaurant have reached a $1.5 million settlement agreement with the restaurant’s former owner
By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer
April 4, 2022 at 11:15 p.m
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Former McDonald’s employees who have alleged sexual harassment at their Michigan restaurant have reached a $1.5 million settlement agreement with the restaurant’s former owner.
The American Civil Liberties Union women’s rights project, which helped represent employees, announced the settlement Monday. It has yet to be approved by a federal judge.
Former McDonald’s employee Jenna Ries sued the Michigan-based franchisee, which operates under the names MLMLM Corp. and Maaks Inc., and Chicago-based McDonald’s Corp. in 2019.
Ries, who worked for three years at a McDonald’s in Mason, Michigan, claimed that a general manager ignored her male colleague’s repeated harassment of her and other female workers, including groping, physical assaults and verbal epithets.
Ries said she often cried on her way to work and felt physically ill. Eventually, she moved to another location, but the colleague who allegedly harassed her stayed at the original location.
Ries said she sued so other women wouldn’t have to go through what she had to endure.
“Nobody should have to endure sexual harassment to get a paycheck,” Ries said in a statement.
Last year, a federal judge granted the lawsuit class-action status based on evidence showing the same male worker consistently and severely molested about 100 women and teenage girls who worked at the store. If the settlement is approved, the workers will be entitled to average compensation of $10,000, depending on the level of harassment they suffered.
Ries initially sought at least $5 million in damages for herself and other female employees. But McDonald’s Corp. successfully argued that it did not hire the women directly. About 95% of the 14,000 McDonald’s stores in the US are owned and operated by franchisees.
Ries’ attorneys said they hoped McDonald’s would take more responsibility.
“It is unconscionable that McDonald’s continues to say ‘no’ to sexual harassment of workers at its franchised locations,” said Darcie Brault, an attorney for Ries and other plaintiffs.
Email and phone messages were left for comment with attorneys for the franchisee, who no longer owns the Mason, Michigan restaurant.
McDonald’s said it had no comment on the proposed settlement.
The lawsuit came amid a major settlement for McDonald’s over sexual harassment at its stores and corporate offices.
At least 100 formal complaints and lawsuits alleging workplace harassment have been filed at McDonald’s restaurants since 2016, the ACLU said. In 2019, the company also fired its former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, for violating a policy that prohibits relationships between superiors and their subordinates.
Last April, the company announced that starting this year, it would require employee training and reporting procedures in its restaurants worldwide to combat harassment, discrimination and violence.