- An Oklahoma McDonald's manager sexually harassed a teenage worker until she resigned, the EEOC says.
- Her supervisor made "sexual comments," including references to rape, per the EEOC's lawsuit.
A McDonald's manager in Oklahoma sexually harassed a 17-year-old worker until she felt that she had no choice but to resign, a federal agency says.
The employee, a department manager, made "sexual comments," including some that were "raunchy and harassing," to the teenager over the course of a month in late 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a lawsuit filed on September 29.
Remarks he made included talking about the teenager's body, asking if she was a stripper, and insinuating that she was getting him in trouble with his wife, the EEOC alleges.
The manager, a new hire at the time, was the teenager's direct supervisor and was nine years older than her, per the lawsuit. The franchise restaurant, in Checotah, a town about 60 miles south of Tulsa, is operated by Arch Fellow North LLC.
The harassment ultimately culminated in him grabbing the teenager by the waist as they were leaving a dark storage shed in November 2021 and saying to her: "You should be careful getting yourself alone with me, I might rape you," according to the lawsuit.
The teenager, who was "stunned and in shock," repeatedly told him to stop and rushed out, per the EEOC.
A few days later, another teenage worker informed the restaurant's general manager of the manager's alleged behavior towards multiple young women, including the rape comment made in the shed, per the lawsuit.
The general manager then spoke to the teenager who told her that she had been harassed in the shed and that she was "very uncomfortable" working with the department manager, the lawsuit says.
But he and the teenager were still scheduled for some of the same shifts, per the lawsuit. Arch Fellows' training supervisor asked the teenager to sign a harassment complaint form but wouldn't let her take a picture of it and told her to keep the incident "as quiet as possible," the EEOC alleges.
It wasn't until nearly a week after the other teenage worker alerted the general manager to the supervisor's apparent conduct that Arch Fellows questioned him about the incident, according to the EEOC.
He claimed that he had told the worker while in the shed that "this wouldn't be a safe place because someone could get raped in here" and that "maybe" he was a rapist, per the EEOC. He also admitted to calling other employees "gorgeous" and "handsome," per the lawsuit.
Arch Fellow issued a "final warning" to the supervisor for discussing rape with a minor employee, but never suspended him or changed his duties so that he wouldn't supervise teenage girls and young women, the lawsuit claims.
The teenager resigned in mid-November 2021 because of Arch Fellow's "failure to respond immediately or appropriately to Boone's harassment, placing her safety at risk," per the lawsuit. This subjected her to a hostile work environment and amounted to constructive discharge because she was "forced" to resign, the EEOC says.
The teenager even had to give her resignation directly to the supervisor involved in the incident because he was the only manager on duty when she arrived at the restaurant, the lawsuit says.
The EEOC is seeking backpay, punitive damages, and other compensation from Arch Fellow for the worker.