MASON, Mich. — Former employees who filed a class action lawsuit against a Mason McDonald's restaurant alleging persistent sexual harassment by a manager have reached a $1.5 million settlement with the former franchise owner.
The suit was filed in November 2019 by Jenna Ries, a former employee at the McDonald's at 730 N. Cedar St. In December, a judge in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled that it could continue as a class action lawsuit, covering approximately 100 other women and teenage girls.
The suit alleges that a single manager grope and propositioned the women for sex over a four-year period while company officials did nothing.
The settlement was submitted to a federal judge for approval today.
“No one should have to put up with sexual harassment to get a paycheck,” Ries said in a statement released Monday. “I filed this lawsuit because I didn’t want other women to go through what I did while working at McDonald’s. I hope those who were abused will get the compensation they deserve, but I also hope McDonald’s will listen to survivors, and do everything possible to prevent sexual harassment in its restaurants.”
Ries said in the lawsuit that the manager frequently grabbed her breasts, buttocks, and crotch on the job, called her vulgar names in front of other employees and once put his penis in her hand while they were working next to each other.
Another woman said she was coerced into having sex with the manager in exchange for more hours on the schedule.
Many of the women say they complained to upper management but, despite that, the manager worked there for four years.
"While this settlement is a win for dozens of Mason McDonald’s workers who claimed egregious harassment, it unfortunately doesn’t go as far as we would have hoped, because McDonald’s corporate wasn’t at the table,” said Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project, in a statement.
The case originally was filed against McDonald’s as well as MLMLM, the Mason franchisee at the time of the alleged harassment, but the corporation was released from the case late last year.
Three attorneys representing MLMLM did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Michael L. Dickerson, the registered agent for MLMLM, could not immediately be reached.
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