McDonald’s Can’t Dodge $500M Sexual Harassment Lawsuit, Judge Rules

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McDonald’s must face a $500 million class action lawsuit alleging the fast food giant created and encouraged a hostile work environment that made sexual harassment rife in its Florida restaurants, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama rejected motions from McDonald’s to dismiss the class action lawsuit filed by Plaintiffs Jamelia Fairley and Ashley Reddick, Law360 reported.

The women’s charges contained sufficient allegations that McDonald’s engaged in a pattern or practice of maintaining a hostile work environment, the order reportedly said.

Fairley, who still works at a McDonald’s, and Reddick, who previously worked at one of the restaurants, are suing for alleged violations of Title VII and the Florida Civil Rights Act. 

They say McDonald’s fostered an unsafe environment through inadequate policies and training, which then led to a culture of unbridled sexual harassment.

Their complaints are directed at McDonald’s Corp., McDonald’s USA LLC and McDonald’s Restaurants of Florida Inc. The women say the trio acted together to put in place policies that allowed a dangerous work environment to exist.

For example, the women allege that employees were told to report any misconduct to a manager, however managers were not trained on how to investigate allegations of misconduct. 

The class action lawsuit also reportedly alleges McDonald’s managers were not held accountable when allegations of sexual harassment were mishandled. 

While the fast food giant tried to argue the class action lawsuit was overly broad, and their experiences were limited to one restaurant, the judge did not agree, Law360 reported.

“At this stage, the court cannot find that plaintiffs’ allegations of sex discrimination are so individualized that they ‘could not possibly present common questions of law or fact sufficient to justify class action treatment,;” Judge Valderrama reportedly ruled.

American fast food giant McDonald’s was founded in 1940 and has grown to be the world’s largest food chain, serving millions of customers in over 100 countries. 

The corporation has faced backlash over the years from both employees and consumers, with numerous lawsuits and class action lawsuits resulting from a variety of allegations against McDonald’s as a company. These allegations have ranged from claims of misleading advertising to claims that the fast food chain discriminates against Black people.

In March, two McDonald’s franchisees filed a class action lawsuit against the fast food giant for bias, saying “old-fashioned racism” is at the heart of their claims. Black franchisees James Byrd Jr. and Darrell Byrd say their complaint details the chain restaurant’s history of discrimination.

What do you think of the allegations against McDonald’s in this case? Let us know in the comments!

The plaintiffs are represented by Eve H. Cervantez, Danielle Leonard and Elizabeth Vissers of Altshuler Berzon LLP and Douglas M. Werman, Maureen A. Salas and Sarah J. Arendt of Werman Salas PC.

The McDonald’s Hostile Workplace Class Action Lawsuit is Fairley et al. v. McDonald’s Corp. et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-02273, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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