Writer 012367: Samantha Fletcher
Ten McDonalds’ employees in Reedsburg, Wisconsin repeatedly reported sexual harassment in the work place. The complaints were continuously looked over and ignored causing an escalation of the situation. The escalation in turn caused increased hostility in the work place resulting in one of the harassed employees to quit. The complaints were addressed in a way that resulted in retaliation in the form of unfair firing of employees who repeatedly reported the harassment. Missoula Mac, the owner of 25 of the franchises, was ordered to pay out $1,000,000 in compensatory damages to the victims.
The McDonalds’ company was ordered to set standards in order to avoid future incidents of the same nature. Standards of regulation included tracking of complaints, providing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with reports and creating a position for the company for an ombudsperson to review and resolve complaints. Standards set in place for employees included training programs to enable the proper identification of sexual harassment and retaliation as well as hotline and e-mail for those who have complaints. Locations were also ordered to post notices of the lawsuit settlement.
The EEOC is a program of the United States Federal Government that is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.(EEOC, 2012) Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered.
The EEOC filed a class sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of the employees who complained which resulted in the settlement including the mentioned stipulations put forth by Judge Barbara B. Crabb.
A story released by the Reedsburg Time-Press reported on the story on July 21, 2012. The main difference between the news story released by this publication and the press release from EEOC is that a written statement from Missoula Mac’s attorney was quoted in the news story and not the press release, along with a statement from the new owner of the Reedsburg McDonalds locations. What accounts for the differences in the two is the fact that most press releases are put out in promotion of a company, organization or program while the goal of most journalists is to seek out information from every side of the story. Ultimately both entities have discretion over what information is released to the public and know that what is released will build and shape what the public believes about said entity.
The suit only somewhat promotes social change. It promotes social change through the demonstration that every complaint should be considered and closely investigated. While the overall goal is to prevent these types of incidents from occurring in the work place the standards set forth by Crabb for the company are unrealistic in preventing and properly addressing each claim in a timely manner. A single ombudsperson for an entire company, especially a company as large as McDonalds, is a seemingly overwhelming and impossible position. Even if this said ombudsperson was in charge of say, 25 locations. Telephone and e-mail hotlines would not address each issue in a timely manner and would prevent immediate solutions. As a senior manager of the company I would suggest that assistant managers of each location, or other pre-established managerial position, also take on additional duties as an onsite human relations position. Incidents would not only be dealt with immediately and personably but also cause a boost in motivation for promoted staff.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012, July 18) About the EEOC: Overview. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012, July 18) Press Release: Owner of 25 McDonald’s Restaurants to Pay $1 Million in EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-18-12a.cfm
Lamoreaux, Kim (2012, July 21). Reedsburg McDonald’s Harassment Suit Settled for $1 Million. Reedsburg Times-Press. Retrieved from http://www.wiscnews.com/reedsburgtimespress/news/local/article_44e2bb88-d347-11e1-91d7-0019bb2963f4.html
