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A class action lawsuit was recently filed against McDonald’s with 5,000 female plaintiffs signed on. The plaintiffs look to receive $500 Million; $100,000 for each woman. The New York Post reports that Jamelia Fairley and Ashely Reddick, a former employee of McDonald’s, were the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit that was filed on April 10th in federal court in Chicago.
Ashley Reddick was an employee with McDonald’s from 2015 through 2018. According to the complaint, Reddick suffered from multiple occurrences of sexual harassment. Reddick claims that one coworker said things like, “I didn’t know you had boobs like that.”
The suit also claims that the same coworker would rub his groin against Reddick. The complaint also states that the male employee would show photos of his private parts without her consent.
Fairley, a current employee since 2018, worked at the exact same McDonald’s location as Reddick. Fairley stated in the complaint that she too suffered from harassment. Fairley says that a coworker asked how much he would have to pay to have sex with her daughter.
Another allegation by Fairley was comments made about her bottom and that the coworker said he would “take [her] her on a ride”, BBC reported. Fairley faced the same kind of physical harassment as Reddick. Allegedly, a male coworker also pulled in Fairley close to him then began to rub his genitals on her.
Both women reported the harassment to their managers with the hopes that something would be done. However, Reddick and Fairley had their hours cut and management never took additional steps. Reddick was fired in 2018 whenever she reported the harassment to upper-management.
At a press conference the following Monday, Fairley said, “It’s time for this company to take responsibility for the safety and well-being of all workers who wear the uniform.”
In November 2019, The Civil Litigator wrote about a proposed class action in Michigan concerning alleged sexual harassment in McDonald’s franchises. That lawsuit hit a roadblock when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that McDonald’s could not be held responsible for the actions of its franchises.
However, Fairley and Reddick’s claims are quite different. The 5,000 women in this suit are part of the 100 corporate-run McDonald’s stores. Therefore, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling does not directly affect the newest lawsuit.
Of course, this is not the first instance of sexual harassment in the fast-food industry or McDonalds. As reported by Business Insider, a 2016 study found that 40% of women who worked in the fast-food industry reported they had been sexually harassed while on the job.
Do you have a McDonald’s sexual harassment claim of your own? Have you been sexually harassed while working in the foodservice industry? For questions, send us a message or fill out our free form below for a free consultation with a top NYC employment law firm.
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