February 2023 saw fast food giant McDonald’s sign a legal agreement with the EHRC in a bid to improve its handing of workplace sexual harassment complaints. However, 5 months on, the company faces over 100 new claims from former and current employees regarding sexual harassment, racism and homophobia.
The latest claims were exposed following a BBC investigation that documented:
- 31 sexual assault allegations;
- 78 sexual harassment allegations;
- 18 racism allegations; and
- 6 claims of homophobia.
It was reported to the BBC that managers were aware of and, in some cases, were responsible for the incidents detailed above.
In response, the EHRC has created a confidential hotline for affected members of staff noting that it was alarmed to learn about the new claims and that it intends to review them “closely in the context of our current legal agreement with McDonald’s to tackle sexual harassment of staff in its restaurants”.
