NWLC Responds to McDonald’s Paying $1.5M Settlement to Michigan Women Workers
(Washington, D.C.) Today, a group of former McDonald’s restaurant workers who brought a class-action lawsuit that alleges rampant sexual harassment by a manager won a $1.5 million settlement resolving the matter. The lawsuit was originally filed in November 2019 by Jenna Ries, a former worker at a McDonald’s restaurant in Mason, Michigan, with representation by the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and co-counsel and support from the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, a program housed and administered by the National Women’s Law Center Fund.
The following is a statement by Jennifer Mondino, Director of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund:
“Today’s $1.5M settlement is due to the bravery of Michigan women working at McDonald’s restaurants. These women called out the pervasive sexual harassment and abuse they experienced routinely, but that management failed to stop. This victory is also the result of the tenacious efforts of the attorneys who represented these women. The TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund is proud to have supported these legal efforts that signal to McDonald’s that word is out about their sexual harassment crisis—and hiding behind their golden arches and Happy Meals is no longer an option. For too long, McDonald’s has bypassed its responsibility to address the high levels of sexual harassment its workers experience. This settlement is an important step toward holding McDonald’s to its responsibility to keep all its workers safe.”
