Sex abuse scandal rocks McDonald's chain in Britain

More than a hundred employees at McDonald's restaurants in the UK have reported assaults, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination within the American chain, according to the BBC on Tuesday, in the latest episode of scandals shaking the country.

The BBC wrote on its website, based on gathered testimonies, that "employees, some as young as 17, experienced unwanted touching and faced harassment on an almost daily basis."

The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission stated on Tuesday that it was "concerned to hear these new allegations of sexual and racial harassment," noting that it has set up a "hotline for reporting harassment incidents at McDonald's."

The fast-food giant previously faced allegations four years ago when the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers' Union claimed that over a thousand employees said they experienced sexual harassment and mistreatment at their workplace.

The commission added that McDonald's has made legally binding commitments that it will be scrutinizing, including reporting on its zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and conducting anonymous surveys for employees on workplace safety.

A spokesperson for the UK government stated that what was revealed by the BBC is "extremely concerning" and urged McDonald's to take the allegations "very seriously."

Former employee Shelby, who was only 16 when she started working at McDonald's last year, told the BBC that she repeatedly faced inappropriate and unwanted touching from older male employees in the kitchen.

She reported the incidents to management, but no action was taken, and she ended up leaving the job. In her resignation letter, she described the work environment as "toxic." Shelby asked in an interview with the BBC, "Why should we go to work and be scared?"

Attempts to reach McDonald's or the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers' Union for comment by Agence France-Presse were unsuccessful.

The fast-food chain employs 177,000 workers in the UK, the majority of whom are young people, including teenagers.

Two years ago, a group of current and former McDonald's employees condemned the "systematic" gender discrimination within the brand in France, with dozens of testimonies about sexual harassment and a "toxic" company culture.

The former global CEO, Steve Easterbrook, was dismissed at the end of 2019 due to an intimate relationship with an employee, in violation of the company's internal rules.

In 2020, following allegations from another employee, McDonald's concluded that its former CEO concealed relationships with several employees and made false statements about the true nature of the disclosed relationship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP