McDonald's faces allegations of sexual abuse and bullying by dozens of employees

Shelby was 16 years old when she started working at a McDonald's restaurant in Berkshire, where she was harassed by colleagues. Credit: BBC

McDonald's has faced allegations of sexual harassment, harassment, racism and bullying by dozens of current and former employees.

On Tuesday, the company said it was «deeply» sorry and acknowledged more than 100 people appeared after the allegations.

Of these statements, 31 were related to sexual violence, 78 to sexual harassment, 18 to racism and 6 to homophobia, as the investigation showed BBC.

The allegations involved a 17-year-old employee from Cheshire who alleged that a senior colleague called her a racist slur; a former employee who said she was strangled and grabbed by a senior restaurant manager in Plymouth; and a manager in Hampshire who offered a 16-year-old worker to trade sex acts for vapes.

An investigation into working conditions at McDonald's began in February after the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality Commission and Human Rights (EHRC), promising to protect its employees from sexual harassment.

A chain of over 170,000 people in 1,450 restaurants across the UK. The company is struggling to change its corporate image following a high-profile boardroom sex scandal and claims it has developed a culture of late parties and booze.

McDonald's is suing former boss Steve Easterbrook in an attempt to get back a severance package he was paid after being fired. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew

Former CEO Steve Easterbrook was fired in November 2019 after it was revealed he had an affair with an employee.

Mr. Easterbrook received a tens of millions of dollars exit package. However, he was subsequently sued by McDonald's for a refund after evidence of previously undisclosed sexual relations with employees was uncovered. ) said in 2019 that it was aware of 1,000 incidents of harassment against McDonald's employees.

McDonald's told The Telegraph earlier this year that the figure «was not confirmed, and we were not provided with any evidence regarding this number of cases. at that time.”

Alistair McCrow, CEO of McDonald's UK & Ireland, said: “Each of the 177,000 McDonald’s employees in the UK deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace. There are clear instances where we have made mistakes and for that we deeply apologize.

“There is simply no place for harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind at McDonald's, and we will investigate all allegations filed in us, and all proven violations of our code of conduct will be dealt with by the most severe measures we can legally enforce, up to and including termination of employment.”

A spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said: “We concerned about these new allegations of sexual and racial harassment. We will take a close look at these in the context of our current legal agreement with McDonald's to combat employee sexual harassment at its restaurants.

“Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are legally liable if an employee is subjected to sexual harassment. at work by another employee, unless the employer has taken all possible measures to prevent this.