McDonald’s sacked 29 people after sexual harassment allegations, MPs told

The chief executive of McDonald’s has said 29 people have been dismissed in the past year after allegations of sexual harassment.

The UK boss of the fast-food chain, Alistair Macrow, told MPs on Tuesday that it had been alerted to 75 allegations of sexual harassment over the last 12 months, 47 of which had been upheld with disciplinary action taken and 29 resulted in people being dismissed.

Macrow’s appearance before MPs on the business and trade select committee came as more than 700 junior McDonald’s workers joined legal action against the chain after allegations of widespread discrimination, homophobia and sexual harassment at its UK restaurants.

Hundreds of current and former crew members – some as young as 19 – have instructed the law firm Leigh Day to take action on their behalf, in a move that has implicated more than 450 of its outlets in Britain.

Complainants have been coming forward after an investigation a year ago by the BBC, which on Tuesday claimed that workers at the chain were still facing sexual abuse and harassment despite a promise from McDonald’s to address the concerns after they were first raised.

On Tuesday, Liam Byrne, the chair of the business and trade select committee, asked Macrow if McDonald’s had “basically now become a predator’s paradise”.

McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, with 168,000 people working at more than 1,400 restaurants.

McDonald’s said: “We have repeatedly asked the BBC to provide details of the deeply troubling cases they have outlined, to allow us to carry out full investigations, which we have not received. We understand the majority of these cases took place more than 12 months ago.”

One of Leigh Day’s 19-year-old clients said they had been subject to homophobic comments from managers and other crew members.

“I feel as though I can’t speak to any managers about it,” he said. “My manager said if I can’t deal with it, I should just leave the job. Things said to me shouldn’t be said to anyone, I’ve been called names like ‘faggot’. These comments make me feel really uncomfortable – I hate working there.”

Another client, who left his job at a McDonald’s branch in the Midlands last year, told the BBC he was bullied for having a learning disability and an eye condition. He also said he had witnessed managers and staff being racist to other employees, and that managers had tried to “touch other staff up”.

Leigh Day said other examples of harassment included a young worker repeatedly being pestered for sex, and another being asked sexual questions including how many people they had slept with. Another worker was asked for sex in return for extra shifts, which she refused, the BBC reported.

Story Continues