• McDonald's is facing fresh scrutiny over sexual harassment claims in its UK restaurants.
• Hundreds of workers are taking legal action against the chain, a law firm said this week.
• McDonald's says ensuring staff are safe at work is its "most important responsibility."

Hundreds of McDonald's workers in the UK are taking legal action over claims of workplace bullying and harassment.

Law firm Leigh Day said this week that over 700 people who work at or have previously worked at 450 different McDonald's locations across the UK have joined the proceedings.

All the workers were 19 or under when working at McDonald's, Leigh Day says.

News of the legal action comes as the BBC published fresh claims of workplace harassment at the fast-food giant, around 18 months after a major investigation into the working culture at the Golden Arches.

The BBC investigation, published in July 2023, revealed that over 100 workers at a number of the Golden Arches locations had spoken of experiencing sexual assault, harassment, racism, or bullying. Since that investigation, 160 more people have approached the BBC with allegations, it reported on Tuesday.

The BBC's latest report on harassment and abuse at the fast-food behemoth comes over a year after its UK boss pledged to take action to improve working conditions.

Starting in February 2023, after the fast food chain signed an agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) promising to protect its staff from sexual harassment, the BBC spoke to staff about the working environment at McDonald's.

Of the over 100 allegations the BBC heard prior to publishing its initial 2023 investigation, 31 involved sexual assault, 78 involved sexual harassment, 18 were related to racism, and 6 were related to homophobia.

Alistair Macrow, the CEO of McDonald's UK and Ireland, told Members of Parliament in November 2023 that the company had received 407 complaints from employees since that July. He said it was taking steps to better protect staff.

Since the BBC's initial investigation in July 2023, 300 reports alleging harassment at the chain have been made to the EHRC.

"Ensuring the 168,000 people that work in McDonald's restaurants are safe is the most important responsibility for both us and our franchisees," McDonald's said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

"We have undertaken extensive work over the last year to ensure we have industry leading practices in place to support this priority. Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action."

Macrow, the UK McDonald's boss, said that 29 people have been fired over incidents involving sexual harassment in the past year.

The BBC heard that one woman said her shift manager, who was in his 30s, asked for sex in exchange for extra shifts when she was a 17-year-old employee. Another female staff member, who was 20 at the time, said her male manager sent her topless photos. A 19-year-old employee alleged he was bullied for having a learning disability and an eye condition, per the BBC.

McDonald's rolls back some DEI efforts

News of fresh claims of staff harassment in the UK comes in the same week that McDonald's announced plans to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

McDonald's said in a statement on Monday that it will stop "setting aspirational representation goals," pause participating in external surveys, no longer require its supply chain to commit to its DEI pledge and change the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team.

A growing backlash against DEI strategies has seen companies such as Nissan, Walmart, and Harley-Davidson scale back or cut programs altogether.

Much of the criticism has come from high-profile figures like Elon Musk and conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who have labeled such initiatives as "woke."

• An Ohio-based bakeware company is facing fines of almost $200,000 after two workers suffered major injuries.
• The workers both experienced what the Labor Department described as "amputation injuries."
• OSHA cited the company for one willful and five serious violations, urging safety reforms.

A Cleveland, Ohio-based metal bakeware company is facing $182,000 in fines after two employees suffered injuries that resulted in amputations.

According to a press release by the US Department of Labor, the first incident at G&S Metal Products Co., which was founded in 1949, occurred on June 25, 2024, when a 37-year-old worker was using a power press.

As the staff member serviced the machine, the press cycled without warning because its pullbacks were not properly secured, inspectors from the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. This contributed to the amputation injury.

Two weeks later, a 64-year-old worker who had been employed by the firm four months previously suffered an amputation injury when clearing scrap from a mechanical power press.

The machine's die closed unexpectedly because it lacked necessary guarding and was not locked out to stop operation during maintenance, OHSA said.

No further detail about the exact nature of the injuries was shared publicly.

G&S Metal Products did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.

OHSA ultimately found that G&S Metal Products Co. did not equip its machinery with adequate guarding, did not enforce vital safety protocols — such as enforcing proper lockout/tagout procedures — and did not provide sufficient training to workers in machine safety.

It cited the Ohio company for one willful violation and five serious violations, resulting in $182,000 in proposed penalties.

"These two workers must live with permanent injuries because their employer failed to ensure that adequate guarding was in place," Howard Eberts, the OSHA area director in Cleveland, said in a statement.

"G&S Metal Products Co. Inc. must take immediate action to evaluate and address machine safety across its operations," he added. "Employers have an obligation to adhere to basic safety standards to ensure every worker returns home safely."

In 2017, the firm was also cited after an employee suffered amputation injuries while adjusting a power press.

• A lawsuit says Apple invades the privacy of employees by monitoring personal devices.
• The lawsuit also claims Apple's policies suppress employee rights and whistleblowing.
• The suit was filed by an Apple worker who says it barred him from publicly discussing his work.

A lawsuit says Apple illegally limits the freedom of employees by monitoring personal devices and iCloud accounts and prohibiting them from talking about their pay and working conditions.

The complaint was filed on Monday in the California Superior Court in Santa Clara County by Amar Bhakta. The suit says Bhakta has worked for Apple in digital advertising tech and operations since 2020.

"Apple's surveillance policies and practices chill, and thus also unlawfully restrain, employee whistleblowing, competition, freedom of employee movement in the job market, and freedom of speech," the suit says.

It also claims the smartphone maker "actively discourages" using iCloud accounts only for work.

"If you use your personal account on an Apple-managed or Apple-owned iPhone, iPad or computer, any data stored on the device (including emails, photos, video, notes and more), are subject to search by Apple," the lawsuit quotes Apple company policy as saying.

The lawsuit says that Bhakta was barred from discussing his work in podcasts and was asked to delete information about his working conditions from his LinkedIn profile.

Bhakta filed the suit under the Private Attorneys General Act, which authorizes workers to sue on behalf of the State of California for labor violations.

He is being represented by Outten & Golden and Baker, Dolinko & Schwartz.

Outten & Golden is also representing two women suing Apple in a suit saying the company paid more than 12,000 female workers in California less than male colleagues with similar roles.

"All California employees have the right to speak about their wages and working conditions," Jahan Sagafi, a partner at Outten & Golden, said in a press release about Bhakta's case.

"Apple's broad speech suppression policies create a danger of discrimination going unchallenged far too long, which harms all Apple employees and Californians in general," he added.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

In a statement to Reuters, Apple said the suit's claims lacked merit, adding: "At Apple, we're focused on creating the best products and services in the world and we work to protect the inventions our teams create for customers."