McDonald’s Worker Allegedly Fired For Unthinkable Reason
A former McDonald's worker is alleging that she faced retaliation and was ultimately fired for an utterly unthinkable reason.
Working at McDonald’s is not an easy job. It’s a low-wage fast-paced high-stress environment that is public-facing. That being said, though the job may be difficult, every McDonald’s worker should be able to come to work with the assurance that management has their best interests at heart. One McDonald’s worker is alleging that was not the case for her. Rosalia Manuel told The Guardian that she believes she was fired for reporting instances of sexual harassment that were occurring at the location where she worked.
Manuel detailed that she had been noticing several instances of sexual harassment at the San Jose McDonald’s where she worked. The instances involved a male employee interacting inappropriately with a female employee. The male employee is related to that location’s management. Manuel said that the male would touch her colleague without consent. On one occasion he even told Manuel’s colleague that he would give her money if she went to a motel with him.
When Manuel decided to report the incidents, she went directly to McDonald’s corporate human resources division. The employee was swiftly terminated. However, that’s when Manuel said that things started to change for her and her colleague that had been harassed. Manuel said that suddenly she and her colleague began to be treated very poorly by management. She and the female worker began to get “complaints for any little thing.” This went on for months until Manuel was ultimately let go for taking a break at a time she wasn’t scheduled for. Manuel worked at that McDonald’s for almost 25 years. “I was shocked. I went to my car and started to cry because I knew I had done the right thing, yet I was being fired and punished for it,” said Manuel.
Manuel thinks that management found a way to terminate her because they were angry that she went over their heads to report the sexual harassment that had been occurring. Her female colleague that was the victim of sexual harassment was also fired from the San Jose McDonald’s. Manuel has since filed a report regarding the matter with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It is unclear if the agency will move to escalate Manuel’s complaint.
Interestingly, this is not the first time McDonald’s is facing scrutiny over matters of sexual harassment. In 2021 groups of McDonald’s workers nationwide went on strike. The strikes were to shed light on the fact that women working in McDonald’s frequently experience sexual harassment and face retaliation from their superiors when they report it.
In response, McDonald’s relayed via a spokesperson that it in no way tolerates any form of sexual harassment in the workplace. “McDonald’s has been clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Everyone who works under the Arches should be able to confidently show up to work each day in a place that is safe, respectful, and inclusive,” said the spokesperson in a statement. The company has also announced that it has completely revamped its brand standards which went into effect for all McDonald’s locations on January 1st of this year.
