McDonald’s employees sue company for racial discrimination

Three Black employees at a Florida McDonald’s are suing the fast food chain over racist comments and retaliation they faced by the manager at a branch in Lakeland.

The lawsuit filed in a Tampa federal court by Monica Scott, 34, Augusta “Gus” Moody, 33, and Faith Booker, 32, alleges that their manager made offensive remarks about Black employees and customers, and that two corporate employees did not take their complaints seriously.

Among other things, the manager is accused of cutting Black workers’ hours, giving them bad performance reviews and giving them tasks like cleaning garbage cans that do not fall under their job responsibilities. 

“While not unique, the experiences of Ms. Scott, Mr. Moody, and Ms. Booker are particularly egregious examples of the serious harm that occurs when a corporation fails to take responsibility for the discriminatory conduct of its managers,” the complaint says, “and thus permits an environment of pervasive and intentional racial discrimination to take hold at one of its corporate owned and operated restaurants.” 

McDonald’s said in a statement Friday that it will take the workers’ complaints seriously and take actions to address their concerns.

“McDonald’s unequivocally stands behind the need for equality and fairness on both sides of the counter in our restaurants, and we do not tolerate discrimination or retaliation of any kind by anyone,” McDonald’s said in the statement to The Tampa Bay Times.

“We stand with Black communities across the globe in our commitment to address unacceptable racial injustices and are disappointed that these allegations do not reflect the high standards we hold ourselves accountable to every day across all areas of our business.”