The lawsuits, filed with the U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, were announced in a press conference Monday morning by
"Fight for $15," a group spearheaded by the Service Employees
International Union. The group has previously helped organize fast-food
industry worker strikes and with these injury complaints is attempting to
expand its reach, broaden its message and, perhaps, bring McDonald's to the
bargaining table.
The complaints allege that understaffing and pressure to
work too fast are the drivers behind the worker injuries. They also allege that
many McDonald's restaurants lack basic first-aid or protective gear necessary
to ensure workers' safety. Some of the complaints claim that McDonald's managers
tell workers to treat burns with condiments like mustard or mayonnaise rather
than burn cream.
"My managers kept pushing me to work faster, and while
trying to meet their demands I slipped on a wet floor, catching my arm on a hot
grill," said Brittney Berry, in a statement, who has worked at a
McDonald's in Chicago since 2011. She claims to have suffered a severe burn on
her forearm and nerve damage from the accident. "The managers told me to
put mustard on it, but I ended up having to get rushed to the hospital in an
ambulance."
McDonald's, in a statement, said it will review the
allegations — but noted that an activist group is behind them.
"McDonald's and its independent franchisees are
committed to providing safe working conditions for employees in the 14,000
McDonald's Brand U.S. restaurants. We will review these allegations. It is
important to note that these complaints are part of a larger strategy
orchestrated by activists targeting our brand and designed to generate media
coverage," says Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, a McDonald's spokeswoman, in a
statement.
The complaints, which were filed at both corporate and
franchised McDonald's locations, allege a range of workplace dangers, including
pressure to clean and filter the fryer while the oil is still hot; lack of
proper protective equipment; floors that are greasy or wet; and missing or
empty first-aid kits.
About 79% of fast-food workers in the U.S. have been burned
on the job over the past year, many repeatedly, according to a survey conducted
by Hart Research Associates and released Monday by the National Council for
Occupational Safety and Health. The survey also found that 36% of workers
report that first-aid kits are missing, inaccessible or empty; and one third of
fast-food workers surveyed say they were told to treat burns with condiments
like mustard or mayonnaise.
For McDonald's, it's yet another test for a company
undergoing change at all levels. McDonald's recently named a new CEO even as
the chain is attempting to simplify its menu and revamp its marketing message.
Pressure to increase wages for its restaurant workers also rose a notch last
month after Walmart announced that 500,000 of its workers would start making at
least $9 an hour beginning in April — at least $1.75 more than the minimum
hourly wage of $7.25. By February 2016, hourly employees will make at least $10
an hour after completing about six months of training, Walmart said.