sexual harassment they'd grow stomachs
wastes bum thighs as well I'd say hips
why should we have to go to work in fear
Shelby started working at a McDonald's
in Berkshire last year she was 16. she
says the workplace felt toxic one senior
manager was openly racist and mocked
disabled employees other managers were
sleeping with more junior members of
Staff when I'd go through the kitchen
I'd have my arms like up and I'd make
myself as small as possible just so that
like hopefully they wouldn't come into
my space something would happen every
shift I'd be like grabs having my bum
grabbed or hips grabbed
she says managers warned her to stay
away from certain older men including
one man in his 50s I was just speaking
to one of my friends and he just sort of
grabbed me by my hips and then pulled me
onto his groin area and then he just
like held me there
I felt disgusted I was like because he
was so much older as well Shelby says
she complained to the store's management
but nothing was done
she quit in May McDonald's said it was
deeply sorry to hear about what Shelby
went through it added that it was
investigating why any issues she raised
were not formally escalated at the time
starting out at work was a real chance
to grow and learn McDonald's uses a
franchise system that means individual
businesses are licensed to run the
stores and directly employ the staff I
want to say that I'm shocked you know
and this is something that surprises me
is is the General Secretary of a trade
Union that supports these workers but
I'm absolutely not and it's disgusting
that in 2023 this kind of behavior and
culture is so prevalent McDonald's has
one of the youngest workforces in the UK
75 percent of staff are under the age of
25. teenagers are attracted to the
flexible hours they can fit the job
around college or university
not her real name is 17. she's been
working at a McDonald's in Cheshire
while studying for her a-levels
last year she says she was repeatedly
sexually harassed by a much older male
colleague he often to show me his penis
in the freezer to prove to me it's not
small
um he sort of accusing me of being a
lesbian because I wasn't attracted to
him she says she confided in a colleague
who was responsible for staff well-being
she said that's how their culture acts
and
I shouldn't like probably just like
ignore it because at this point what can
I really do and she told me we can go
back in I was still crying at this point
and it was quite busy so I I just went
back into work the man who was from
Eastern Europe was then racially abusive
he started saying the n word to two boys
in the kitchen
and then sort of referring to me as a
monkey N word to other people in the
kitchen and would not stop repeating it
on even though they seemed completely
uncomfortable with the situation so I
generally was just
really shocked and like I couldn't
handle at this point like I had
generally just broke
why didn't you go to the store manager
why didn't you go to the Man In Charge I
didn't think I'd be believed I feel like
they would have seen in my stories and
exaggeration I did feel like at any
moment I could be replaced cheniere's
stepfather complained to McDonald's
headquarters the franchise in charge of
the store and the police after his
intervention the man was fired
McDonald's said cheniere's experiences
were abhorrent and unacceptable it
apologized unreservedly it said Swift
action was taken the man was dismissed
within three days in February McDonald's
signed a legal agreement with the
equality Watchdog the ehrc promising to
do more to prevent sexual harassment
including providing online training
McDonald's workers have told the BBC
that the training isn't being taken
seriously one employee described
balancing an iPad next to a flurry
machine and flicking through the online
course while he did the drinks other
workers have told us that they haven't
been offered any training at all
welcome back McDonald's faces a new wave
of accusations from women who claim they
were sexually harassed on the job sexual
harassment at McDonald's has become such
a big issue in the U.S that women have
been protesting outside restaurants
across the country
four years ago the company's CEO was
fired he'd had inappropriate
relationships with several female
colleagues and McDonald's is facing
multi-million dollar lawsuits by
employees one case brought by workers in
Michigan was settled out of court for
1.5 million dollars
[Music]
Emily was one of those women bringing
the lawsuit for me why it's so
distressing is because at the time I was
17 to me it's important to stand with
the other women who were harassed and
kind of stand up and say like yes this
didn't happen and there should be
consequences for that and it shouldn't
be happening so that's how I started
talking to the lawyers is giving my
experience in the UK staff are often on
zero hour contracts and shift managers
set the rotors
Cara not her real name was 17 and on a
zero-hour contract when she says her
shift manager sent her sexually explicit
images
I had I managed a message of me it was
probably within the first week of us
messaging that he was sending me
explicit pictures of his genitals she
says she was also assaulted by a senior
manager he was like oh come and work on
front
um putting the food into the bags and he
just goes and grabs my throw with like
some force and then he goes on to like
grab my bum as well he was a big man and
I was like but you need to let go of me
and he did and I was like trying to
breathe and sort of like acts as Farrah
films normal
Cara complained to the manager in charge
of the store she says that despite
assurances the man wasn't disciplined
she quit her job there is a massive
power imbalance that these managers
McDonald's can't afford to lose them
because they've been there for such a
long time you know people that are crew
members you are dispensable 100 in a
statement Alistair macrow the CEO of
McDonald's UK and Ireland said they
deeply apologize for the instances where
they have fallen short there is simply
no place for harassment abuse or
discrimination of any kind at McDonald's
and we will investigate all allegations
brought to us and all proven breaches of
our code of conduct will be met with the
most severe measures we can legally
impose up to and including dismissal
already over 2 000 of our managers have
completed full awareness training and
nearly all of our restaurant teams are
now working Within These new protections
aimed at creating a safe and respectful
workplace
I think that they don't
really think about their staff at all
and they have little to no regard for
our feelings and how we might feel in
the workplace and how we're being
treated
um yeah because if they did
because if they did they do something
about it
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