McDonald’s is facing a legal challenge from more than 700 workers amid claims of harassment

Hundreds of current and former McDonald’s workers – some as young as 19 – have taken legal action against the fast food giant over allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and harassment at more than 450 UK stores.

The complaint, filed by law firm Leigh Day, follows a wave of allegations highlighted by a BBC investigation. The broadcaster reported that McDonald’s employees faced “unacceptable” behavior despite promises made by the company last year to fix similar problems.

This happened as Alistair Macrow, the chief executive of McDonald’s in the UK, is preparing to testify before the business and trade committee of members of Parliament, who are expected to ask how the catering unit has handled allegations of misconduct. McDonald’s, one of Britain’s biggest private sector employers with 168,000 employees and more than 1,400 restaurants, said it had pressed the BBC for details of the reported cases “to allow us to carry out a full investigation” but had not yet received them.

Another 19-year-old complainant told Leigh Day that he was subjected to homophobic abuse by managers and co-workers, and insults including being called a “fagot”. One complainant said she was being bullied because of her learning disabilities and eye condition, and that managers were “touching other employees” and making racist comments. Other examples include a junior employee being pressured to have sex and one manager making offensive comments to employees based on their ethnicity.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it has received approximately 300 reports of abuse at McDonald’s restaurants since the BBC’s first investigation. It has stepped up its intervention, saying it is working “to renew our ongoing legal agreement due to the serious allegations raised by our work with the company, and the BBC’s investigation”.

McDonald’s insists it is committed to protecting workers and improving its reporting structures, including introducing a digital reporting platform called Red Flags and a dedicated investigative team. It said it had hired its first head of security and was “confident” it was taking “significant and important steps” to stamp out abusive behaviour.

Emma Cocker, Senior Associate in the Employment team at Lawrence Stephens Solicitors, noted that workers working on zero hour contracts can feel very vulnerable. “It is possible that they are afraid of being treated in a dangerous way if they file complaints,” he said. “It seems that McDonald’s still has a long way to go in providing a safe workplace. The longer businesses allow this type of behavior to continue, the longer the list of complaints and legal claims they will face.”