You expect your company to protect you from sexual harassment in the workplace. But when managers of local stores don’t enforce harassment policies, your co-workers may feel they can get away with inappropriate behavior.
A McDonald’s employee in Michigan recently experienced this when her general manager did not respond to her reports of sexual harassment. McDonald’s and one of its Michigan franchises may now face a class-action lawsuit.
Employee suffered a year of ignored harassment
The employee filed the lawsuit after a co-worker allegedly harassed her for over a year. She said her general manager ignored the behavior. The employee felt that if she spoke up, she could lose her job. Eventually, her manager transferred her, but her co-worker kept his job.
Now the employee has filed a class-action lawsuit and reported the behavior to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She joins 50 other McDonald’s workers across the country who reported sexual harassment to the EEOC over the past three years. The employee hopes her lawsuit will make sexual harassment training mandatory in McDonald’s stores.
McDonald’s sexual harassment training not mandatory in franchises
While McDonald’s offers sexual harassment training, 95% of the stores are franchises. The company does not require franchise owners to offer training to employees.
You expect a strict policy against sexual harassment
Regardless of where you work, you expect your company to have and enforce a standard sexual harassment policy. When your managers and co-workers don’t receive training, they may feel they can get away with inappropriate behavior.
