Wisconsin McDonald’s franchise accused of racial discrimination

On Behalf of | Jan 25, 2022 | Racial Discrimination

A Wisconsin-based McDonald’s franchise with restaurants in the Milwaukee area faces accusations for blatantly rejecting Black job applicants. It marks the latest legal conundrum rooted in racial discrimination faced by the fast-food giant in recent years.

In mid-December, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Pensec Inc. of Mequon, which owns nine McDonald’s restaurants in the Milwaukee area. The EEOC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

‘Unlikely the result of chance’

The lawsuit noted that a number of Black job applicants faced racial discrimination when they were informed that the store manager did not like Black people and preferred working with “Spanish people.” The EEOC also declared that Pensec for years had a significant shortage of Black employees, basing this information on Milwaukee County census data from 2010.

The EEOC’s district director in Chicago Julianne Bowman said that when the agency began an investigation of Pensec’s hiring practices, it found that the franchise’s McDonald’s restaurants had a low number of Black employees. According to an EEOC news release, Bowman said: “The absence of Black employees was highly unlikely the result of chance.”

McDonald’s has troubled track record

In the lawsuit, the EEOC seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages and back pay for the rejected Black applicants. Also, the agency seeks injunctive relief in order to prevent additional discrimination by Pensec.

Racial discrimination-related lawsuits have long troubled McDonald’s. Recently, McDonald’s settled lawsuits filed by Black franchisees in Ohio and Tennessee, claiming racial discrimination in that they were forced to operate low-volume restaurants and that the company gave preferential treatment to white franchise owners.

Ready to go the legal distance

If you suspect that you and your co-workers face any type of discrimination, including related to race, it is essential to document every incident.

The next step is to contact a skilled employment attorney who will serve as a reliable and assertive advocate in your workplace discrimination case. With vast experience, the attorneys at Alan C. Olson and Associates have represented numerous clients and are prepared to go the legal distance for you.

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