McDonald's abuse claims out in the open as staffers speak of sexual assault, harassment, racism

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

McDonald's has found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons after shocking allegations by more than a hundred current and ex-staff at the fast-food chain's UK outlets of a «toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism», BBC reported on July 18. Members of the staff are «being groped and harassed almost routinely», a BBC investigation revealed. Some of these workers are as young as 17, the report said.

In February this year, the UK broadcaster began an investigation into the working conditions at the chain's outlets. According to the report, the investigation was launched after the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), vowing to keep its staff safe from sexual harassment. While the company had insisted that it had a «strong track record in this area,», the investigation showed quite another picture, BBC said.

Of the over 100 allegations, 31 were of sexual assault, and 78 of sexual harassment, the report revealed. There were 18 allegations of racism, and six of homophobia. Here are some of the allegation that materialised from the probe, as listed by BBC:

A former worker, 17 at the time, said a senior manager choked her and grabbed her backside. She was also sent sexually explicit images by a manager. A 16-year-old male worker was asked perform sexual acts in exchange for vapes A manager who tried to prey on young new female starters, making attempts to pressurise them into having sex A woman says a slur word said to her and that she was subjected to racist jokes One instance of anti-Semitic abuse A current worker, originally from India, who says.