Ten McDonald’s employees in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, continuously reported workplace sexual harassment. The objections were repeatedly overlooked, which led to a worsening of the problem. One of the harassed employees resigned as a result of the spike in tension in the workplace. The way the complaints were handled led to unjust firings of workers who had consistently complained about harassment as reprisal. Owner of 25 of the franchisees, Missoula Mac, was mandated to compensate the victims with $1,000,000 in damages (“How can I sue McDonalds for sexual harassment?” 2019). In order to prevent such accidents in the future, McDonald’s was told to develop standards. However, the problem of sexual harassment in the McDonald’s restaurant chain is a critical one to limit and find ways to further its prevention.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received reports on complaints that were tracked, and the corporation established a position for an ombudsperson to assess and handle issues. Training programs for appropriate recognition of sexual harassment and retaliation, as well as a hotline and email for those with complaints, were among the standards put in place for staff. Additionally, posting notices of the case settlement was mandated in certain places. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a program of the United States Federal Government, prohibiting discrimination against employees (“About the EEOC: Overview”, 2012a). Regarding the problem under study at McDonald’s, the importance of the decision-making standpoint is stressed, since it depends on the leaders and managers to effectively prevent the emergence of this issue.
Sexual harassment at a globally renowned restaurant chain attracted a lot of public attention. On July 21, 2012, the Reedsburg Time-Press published a piece on the incident (Lamoreaux, 2022). There was one main distinction between the news article published by this publication and the press release from the EEOC. It was that in the news article rather than the press release, a written statement from Missoula Mac’s attorney and a statement from the new owner of the McDonald’s restaurants in Reedsburg were quoted. This can be explained by the fact that most press releases are distributed to promote a business, program, or group, but most journalists seek for information from all sides of an issue. In the end, both parties have control over what information is made available to the public and are aware that the information revealed will influence how the public perceives each party.
The company has taken steps to revise its policies to show people that they will settle with these issues and preserve its reputation. By demonstrating that every complaint should be taken into account and thoroughly examined, it encourages societal change. While preventing these kinds of occurrences from happening at work is the ultimate goal, Crabb’s expectations for the firm are unreasonable in terms of preventing and correctly handling each claim in a timely way. For a firm the size of McDonalds, having a single ombudsperson for the entire organization would seem to be an onerous and impossible task. even if the said ombudsperson had, for example, 25 sites under their control. Hotlines for phone and email would take too long to respond to every concern and would prohibit quick fixes. As the company’s senior manager, I would propose that each location’s assistant managers—or another pre-established managerial role—take on extra responsibilities as an on-site human relations post. Incidents would not only be handled promptly and amicably, but they would also increase the motivation of promoted workers.
References
About the EEOC: Overview. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2012a). Web.
How can I sue McDonalds for sexual harassment?. (2019). Sexual Harassment Law. Web.
Lamoreaux, K. (2022). Reedsburg McDonald’s harassment suit settled for $1 million. Reedsburg Times-Press. Web.
Press release: Owner of 25 McDonald’s restaurants to pay $1 million in EEOC sexual harassment suit. (2012). Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Web.