McDonald's Corp is once again facing another issue involving its employees, and this most recent case adds up to the growing number of race-related lawsuits emerging across the United States.
Thursday saw the filing of ten ex-employees of a McDonald's branch in Virginia following their experience of not only racial discrimination in their workplace, but also sexual harassment and wrongful termination, Wall Street Journal reported.
Reports released by the local media in May last year sparked the debate involving racial discrimination charges after the majority of the 17 workers, then working at three different McDonald's outlets in Clarkesville and South Boston, were suddenly dismissed from work because they failed to "fit the profile."
The plaintiffs charged their ex-employer with violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for failing or refusing "to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex or national origin."
The case, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia, specifically targets the franchise owner, Michael Simon. Although he could not be reached for comment by any of the national and local media personnel, Simon declared in an earlier interviews that he enforces a "strict policy of prohibiting any form of discrimination or harassment in hiring, termination or any other aspect of employment."
However, Simon may not be solely responsible for this case should the court decide in favor of the plaintiffs. According to the lawyers of the class action lawsuit, the entire McDonald's company, and not only the franchise owner, should be held accountable for the claims in damages.
Paul Smith, a lawyer from Patterson Harkavy who currently handles the cases of the ex-employees, asserted McDonald's liability. He claimed that the company is "trying to have the best of both worlds," which he explained means that McDonald's is looking to acquire the profits raked in by the franchise branches, but is refusing to take responsibility for the consequences.
At present, McDonald's have not yet issued any statement directly related to the recent case. However, the accountability issue raised by the ex-employees may not work in favor of the company due to the recent ruling of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This decision held the fast food chain jointly liable for the errors committed by its franchise branches.
In response to the decision issued by the NLRB on December 2014, the company posted an official statement condemning the said decision and vowing to contest it.
"The National Labor Relations Board's actions today improperly and dramatically strike at the heart of the franchise system - a system that creates economic opportunity, jobs and income for thousands of business owners and their employees across the country," McDonald's asserted.
