(London) The fast food giant McDonald’s will set up a unit to investigate cases of harassment or sexual assault or racism on its sites in the United Kingdom after the accusations of a hundred employees relayed by the BBC.
In a statement received by AFP on Friday, McDonald’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Alistair Macrow, said the unit could pass on reported cases to specialist investigators.
“The accusations heard this week are shocking, personally and professionally,” adds Mr. Macrow, who reiterates “his most sincere apologies” for “clear failings” in the management and prevention of these incidents and assaults.
“Any material breach of our code of conduct will receive severe action including dismissal,” he warns.
The BBC revealed on Tuesday that more than 100 McDonald’s employees in the UK say they have been victims of sexual assault or harassment or racism, the latest in a wave of scandals evoking a #metoo in the British business world.
The fast-food giant had already been targeted by charges four years ago when the Bakery and Food Workers Union (BFAWU) claimed that more than 1,000 employees said they were victims of sexual harassment and abuse in their workplace.
The fast food chain has 177,000 employees in the UK, the majority of whom are very young, even teenagers.
Two years ago, a group of employees and former employees of McDonald’s denounced a policy of “systemic” sexist discrimination within the brand in France, with dozens of testimonies describing sexual harassment and a “harmful” corporate culture.
The group’s ex-boss worldwide, Steve Easterbook, was fired at the end of 2019 for having had an intimate relationship with an employee, in violation of the internal regulations.
The McDonald’s group had established that the leader had concealed affairs with several staff members and that he had lied about the real nature of his relationship that had been made public.
In recent months, accusations of sexual assault and rape within the British employers’ federation CBI, of sexual assaults against the ex-chairman of the Tesco board, investor Crispin Odey and even a former Guardian journalist have emerged in the corporate world.