Sexual assault at work: McDonald’s franchisee agrees to pay $4.4M to teen worker
Last fall, the DOL announced that it would increase civil money penalties for child labor violations.
And an egregious case out of western Pennsylvania highlights the need to increase protection efforts for underage workers.
Sexual assault in restaurant bathroom
The lawsuit involved Rice Enterprises LLC, a McDonald’s franchisee located in the Pittsburgh area, and a teenage female employee.
In 2021, the girl was raped in a restaurant bathroom, according to a lawsuit filed by her parents.
The suit alleged store manager Walter A. Garner committed the assault. He pleaded guilty to several charges for the assault in the McDonald’s restroom and is currently serving a four to 10-year prison sentence.
It was later discovered that Garner was a registered sex offender at the time of this assault for the previous assault of a 10-year-old.
“How is it that a convicted, registered sex offender is permitted to be hired to manage 14- to 17-year-old girls at a McDonald’s?” Alan Perer, the victim’s lawyer, said during a news conference. “The facts of our case are horrific.”
No training to protect minors?
The employee, who was 14 at the time of the assault, said she didn’t receive any training on sexual harassment or any information about how to report inappropriate misconduct.
Employment attorney Fiona Ong of the firm Shawe Rosenthal LLP says employers must understand that “greater care must be taken with regard to protecting minors from harassment in the workplace, as they tend to be less knowledgeable about their rights and more vulnerable to abuse.”
The franchisee has agreed to pay $4.4 million to the girl and her family to settle the lawsuit.
In a separate action, a second teenage girl has sued McDonald’s and Rice Enterprises, alleging sexual harassment by Garner.
Info: McDonald’s franchisee will pay $4.4 million to teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by manager in restaurant bathroom, 2/6/24.
Free Training & Resources
Webinars
Provided by JazzHR by employ
Resources
Case Studies
The Cost of Noncompliance
Further Reading
Unlike an Alabama district court, an appeals court couldn’t see the difference between injured workers who couldn’t lift more than 20 po...
The Department of Labor has determined that an employer is to blame for injuries suffered by a worker whose face was burned as he was cleani...
Generally, employers must grant their employees FMLA leave when they’re entitled to it, as in the case of an expecting parent.But in this ...
Video game giant Activision Blizzard agreed to a multi-million dollar payout and consent decree in order to settle the EEOC’s sexual h...
Race bias claims can be based on inadequate training, a new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says. In this case, ...
Walmart has agreed to pay $60,000 and take other steps to resolve charges that it violated federal law by denying a promotion to an employee...