Women allege sexual harassment against McDonald’s coworker

By Matthew Marks on August 6th, 2014 in Sexual Harassment

There are many things that workers throughout the nation can reasonably expect each day when they go to work. It is fair to say that sexual harassment is not one of those things. When someone is the victim of this behavior it can be difficult to know what steps to take and some people may be reticent about taking any action at all. This is true regardless of where one works.  

Sexual harassment does occur all too frequently, particularly in restaurant settings. A survey conducted by the advocacy group ROC found that more than one in 10 individuals who work in restaurants either personally experienced or knew a coworker who had dealt with sexual harassment while working. Further, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reports that close to 37 percent of those charges are filed by women who work in restaurants. Readers may be surprised to learn that as compared to other industries, women who work in restaurants report sexual harassment more than five times more often.

Two women who formerly worked at a McDonald’s in Queens, New York, recently took action after they said a supervisor sexually harassed them. More specifically, the women, who were both employed as assistant managers, made sexual comments and in opportune situations, groped them. In addition they said he also made disparaging racial comments and sent inappropriate text messages and videos. They filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s alleging the restaurant did not take action regarding the matter. Prior to filing the lawsuit one of the women said she reported the supervisor’s behavior to the business, to no avail.

It is too soon to know how this case will end. McDonald’s indicates that it plans on defending itself against the allegations. Because these cases are often complicated, for the best possible outcome it is usually beneficial to work with an attorney who represents employees who have faced sexual harassment in the workplace.

Source: Think Progress, “Former McDonald’s Workers Say Their Boss Groped Them, Used Racial Slurs,” Bryce Covert, July 14, 2014