"McDonald's workers sue over sexual harassment, 'toxic' work culture", 12 November 2019

McDonald’s Corp was sued...by workers in Michigan who accused the fast-food chain of allowing pervasive sexual harassment to flourish at its restaurants nationwide.

The proposed class action lawsuit...accused McDonald’s of lacking policies to address sexual harassment, failing to train managers to prevent it, and retaliating against workers who complain...

...McDonald’s said in a statement it is implementing safe-workplace training at its corporate-owned restaurants, and encouraging franchisees to do the same...

...Roughly 95% of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are franchised, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers said the...company does not push hard enough to improve training at the franchised restaurants...

...The lawsuit was filed on behalf of women who worked at the Mason restaurant in the last three years. It seeks improved training, added protections for employees, and more than $5 million of damages...

...A federal appeals court in San Francisco last month said McDonald’s does not exercise enough control over franchise workers to be considered a “joint employer.”