By Angela Green: McDonald’s CEO admits to parliamentary select committee sacking 29 employees after sexual harassment allegations.
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The reputation of the hospitality industry as an employer has often been questioned, primarily on the grounds of long hours and low pay, a reputation many across the industry have diligently countered through positive and mindful action, instilling cultures that enable positive experiences of working in hospitality. This good work by so many has now once again been countered by the actions of one, in this instance McDonald’s.
Yesterday, for the second time, the chief executive of McDonald’s, Alistair Macrow, was called to attend a parliamentary select committee hearing. During the hearing he set out to MPs that the company he heads had, over the past year, been alerted to 75 allegations of sexual harassment within the business. He explained that 47 of the allegations were upheld and disciplinary action taken, and then further added that 29 of the people who made the allegations of sexual harassment had been dismissed by the company from their roles.
The parliamentary hearing follows hundreds of current and former employees having instructed solicitors Leigh Day to act on their behalf in a claim that implicates circa 450 McDonald’s UK outlets.
Complainants have been growing following an investigation a year ago by the BBC. The complaints centre around sexual harassment, but also include bullying of neurodivergent employees, homophobia, and racism. The complaints also allude that managers subject to claims are moved from one restaurant to another to avoid the consequences of their alleged actions.
One Leigh Day client, 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 also said he had witnessed managers and staff being racist to other employees, and that managers had tried to “touch other staff up”.
During the hearing Antonia Bance MP said that McDonald’s widespread use of zero-hours contracts “opened the door to favouritism, bullying and sexual harassment”, claiming that the setup, where workers have no guarantees on regular working hours “enables predatory managers and puts workers at greater risk of bullying and sexual harassment”. Macrow said he did not accept that premise, saying McDonald’s workers, who were often students, valued flexibility in their working hours and the cases of harassment “are cultural issues that must be addressed, not contractual issues”.
The ongoing and increasing complaints of harassment and discrimination at McDonalds have drawn the attention of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which said it was in receipt of complaints detailing 300 reported incidents of harassment since the BBC’s original investigation in 2023. The EHRC said it was now as a consequence ramping up its intervention.
McDonald’s defended the claims by stating the business had hired a new head of safeguarding and had rolled out company-wide programmes to improve safeguarding, awareness and training. These include a digital whistleblowing channel called Red Flags and an investigations handling unit “dedicated to rooting out any behaviour that falls below the high standards we demand of everyone at McDonald’s”.
The fallout from this disastrous situation is exacerbating prompting comment in the legal world as well as hospitality. Nathalie Ingels, Principal Director in the Employment team at national law firm Foot Anstey, told us: “McDonald’s reputation for protecting its staff lies in tatters with the fast-food behemoth being branded a “predator’s paradise” by the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, following the news of more than 700 current and former employees bringing legal claims of discrimination and harassment against the organisation.
“This news follows the worrying rising trend of harassment in the retail and consumer sector, with our research into the topic revealing the shocking statistic that nearly two-thirds of workers have experienced offensive behaviour.
“The franchise model introduces complications to this issue both in terms of ensuring a consistent approach to culture, values and management but also in terms of each franchisor being able to protect its own brand and reputation in the wake of allegations of this sort. This, however, only strengthens the need for organisations to take swift action to tackle issues head-on when they arise.”
The background and ongoing debacle around this sorry situation is being comprehensively covered in The Guardian and by the BBC.
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