McDonald’s Workers Ink Settlement After Being Told to Mask with Doggy Diapers, Coffee Filters

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McDonald’s Workers Settlement Overview 

• Who: California McDonald’s workers say they have reached a settlement with their employer.
• Why: To end a lawsuit filed last summer claiming McDonald’s workers faced unsanitary conditions and lacked protective equipment, a franchise has agreed to implement heightened safety standards and form a committee of employees to guide health standards. 
• Where: The McDonald’s workers and franchise are located in Oakland, California.  

A group of McDonald’s workers and an Oakland franchise agreed to a list of health and safety measures, ending a lawsuit filed by the employees in June alleging they were exposed to unsanitary conditions and asked to wear doggy diapers and coffee filters as face masks during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.  

The McDonald’s workers and restaurant franchise operators agreed to implement a dozen health and safety initiatives to end the litigation. The measures include enhanced sick leave requests, increased deep cleaning and sanitation, physical distancing, wellness checks, and regular hand washing breaks.  

The workers also agreed to increased communication in the event of a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing, as well as paid leave to quarantine. Further, the franchise has agreed to provide “masks and gloves to employees who wish to use them” — a step up from the modified doggy diapers and coffee filters McDonald’s workers say they were forced to use last summer.  

The settlement also provides for a health and safety committee made up of McDonald’s workers and management. The committee will meet monthly to review COVID-19 safety measures, according to court documents.  

McDonald’s Workers Lawsuits Over COVID-19 Conditions 

In June, the Oakland McDonald’s workers claimed in a lawsuit that they were not informed they had been exposed to COVID-19 and management failed to provide protective gear and policies during the outbreak. 

A similar lawsuit was filed by McDonald’s workers in Illinois, who claimed that the fast-food chain failed to implement any safety training for its workers or enforce safety protocols during the COVID-19 outbreak.  

McDonald’s workers reportedly filed similar settlement documents in court last month.  

The fast-food chain told Law360 it “worked closely with leading public health authorities, with global suppliers and with the Mayo Clinic” and had secured hundreds of millions of pieces of protective equipment.  

“We’re confident that any outlier conduct like that alleged in these complaints does not reflect what has broadly happened and continues to happen across 14,000 U.S. McDonald’s locations,” the company reportedly stated.  

Are you concerned about how McDonald’s workers and other employees are being treated during the coronavirus pandemic? Tell us about it in the comment section below.  

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Michael Rubin, Stacey M. Leyton, Barbara J. Chisholm and Corinne F. Johnson of Altshuler Berzon LLP.  

The McDonald’s Workers Coronavirus Lawsuit is Yamilett Olimara Osoy Hernandez, et al. v. VES McDonald’s, et al., Case No. RG2006485, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Alameda. 

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