Law firm Leigh Day says it has been instructed by hundreds of young current and former McDonald’s workers – some as young as 19 – to take legal action on their behalf, with over 450 McDonald’s restaurants implicated in the claims so far.
It follows an investigation into workplace conditions at McDonald’s by the BBC in July 2023 that gathered more than 100 allegations of sexual and racial abuse as well as harassment, homophobia and bullying.
At the time, McDonald’s UK boss Alistair Macrow pledged to ‘root out’ any behaviour or conduct that fell below the ‘high standards McDonald’s expects of its staff’.
However, further allegations were published by the BBC today ( 7 January).
Leigh Day client 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 staff and managers trying to ‘touch other staff up’.
According to Leigh Day, claimants have described experiences of discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism, and harassment.
They also include a worker saying they were repeatedly pestered for sex; a manager touching staff inappropriately on their shifts; and a manager making racist comments such as whether staff would steal from the company because of where they were from.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action.
“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.
“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.”
The BBC originally launched its investigation in February 2023 after McDonald’s Restaurants Limited signed the legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in response to concerns about the handling of sexual harassment complaints made by staff in its UK restaurants.
It followed the publication of a report detailing a ‘toxic culture’ that saw ‘at least 1,000 women abused and predatory employees moved to different stores rather than sacked’.
At the time, Macrow claimed his company had ‘a strong track record’ in protecting its workforce and that he welcomed the opportunity to work with the EHRC to further strengthen it.
In a statement provided to the BBC today, the EHRC said it was taking stronger action against McDonald’s
“We are actively working with McDonald’s to update our ongoing legal agreement in light of serious allegations raised by our work with the company, and the BBC investigation,” the watchdog said.
McDonald’s said it signed the agreement with the EHRC with ‘the intention that it continues to evolve to ensure the measures 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,” the spokesperson continued.
“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.”
The spokesperson added that McDonald’s had repeatedly asked the BBC ‘to provide details of the deeply troubling cases’ outlined in its reporting in order to carry out full investigations, but this had not been received.
“We understand the majority of these cases took place more than 12 months ago,” they said.
Leigh Day believes that junior crew members and staff at McDonald’s could be entitled to bring claims, regardless of whether they have directly experienced harassment, because ‘they could have been exposed to unsafe work practices which may have enabled a culture of inappropriate and unlawful conduct towards McDonald’s young and less experienced staff’.
It adds that if the claim is successful, claimants could be entitled to compensation.
Paula Lee, a partner in the employment team at Leigh Day, said: “Since the original BBC investigation, more than 700 young McDonald’s employees from across the country have contacted Leigh Day and joined the claim.
“These continue to grow as more crew members learn that they can also access justice.”
Speaking to MPs on the Business and Trade Committee this afternoon, Macrow described the allegations published by the BBC today as ‘abhorrent and unacceptable’.
“There is no place for them in McDonald’s,” he said.
He revealed that the company has fired 29 workers over sexual harassment allegations in the past year. A total of 75 allegations were made over the period, leading to 47 cases of disciplinary action.
“There cannot be any room in our business for people who behave in that manner,” Macrow continued.
“The measures that are put in place mean that we are able to offer a secure, safe workplace where people are respected and feel included.
“I hear from our people that it is working.”
McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private-sector employers with more than 170,000 people working within its restaurants.
