McDonald's Ethical Standards: A Look into Allegations of Discrimination and Harassment, Exams of Mathematics

Download McDonald's Ethical Standards: A Look into Allegations of Discrimination and Harassment and more Exams Mathematics in PDF only on Docsity! PERFORMANCE TASK IN BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SLIDE 1: Good morning everyone | am here to discuss McDonald's and its implemented or violated ethical standards. Let us start by discussing the company’s profile SLIDE 2: According to Wikipedia, McDonald's Corporation is an American fast food company, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand, and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and proceeded to purchase the chain from the McDonald brothers. McDonald's had its previous headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, but moved its global headquarters to Chicago in June 2018. SLIDE 3: McDonald's faces another lawsuit by workers claiming racial discrimination For the fourth time in less than a year, former and current McDonald's employees have filed a complaint accusing the fast food giant of racial discrimination. The civil rights suit, filed last year in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois - Rock Island, accuses managers at a local McDonald's of subjecting Black workers to racially derogatory terms and disparate treatment that resulted in them receiving harsher discipline, and fewer hours, than their white colleagues. An earlier complaint filed in July 2020 by Black employees of a Lakeland, Florida McDonald's was amended after two of the workers were fired - dismissals they said were retaliation for speaking up about their abusive work environment. The Illinois suit's allegations are "symptomatic of a pattern or practice of McDonald’s corporate leadership’s failure to address pervasive racism and anti-Black sentiment throughout the organization," the complaint said, "from executives in the C-suite, to individual managers at restaurants throughout the country." SLIDE 4: McDonald’s takes on accusations of ‘sexual harassment problem’ with lawsuit against former CEO McDonald's filed its lawsuit against former CEO Steve Easterbrook first thing on Monday morning. Those fishing around for the complaint, filed in Delaware state court, did not even have to look very hard: McDonald's included it as part of its filing with the SEC. The suit alleges that Easterbrook, who was fired for sexting with a subordinate, did far more than that. The complaint claims that “recently identified evidence shows that Easterbrook had physical sexual relationships with three McDonald’s employees in the year before his termination; that he approved an extraordinary stock grant, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, for one of those employees in the midst of their sexual relationship; and that he was knowingly untruthful with McDonald's investigators in 2019.” An article in The Nation from late July 2020, for example, cited a poll conducted by a coalition of U.S. labor unions, with three-quarters of respondents saying they had experienced sexual harassment on the job. Two-thirds said they had experienced multiple forms of harassment. Nearly 30% had been asked to have sex with a coworker, and 12% said they were sexually assaulted or raped. (McDonald's responded by saying the survey represented less than 0.1% of employees in its U.S. restaurants.) SLIDE 5 The code of ethics that McDonald's employees are expected to abide by is covered in the corporation's Standards of Business Conduct document. Each year, all employees must sign a document certifying that they've read the document and will follow its precepts. Employees also attend training related to the ethical standards. The document is 40-plus pages and covers six themes. Obligations to Customers McDonald's fosters an ethical obligation to provide clean, hygienic restaurants; child-friendly toys; and a safe atmosphere for all customers. This means that safety standards for food and toys should match or exceed government standards. The obligation includes ensuring that all advertising is honest and tasteful, and that confidential information is not shared. Obligations to Employees McDonald's standards booklet includes a section on providing a positive experience for its employees. For example, employees are encouraged to report misconduct without fear of retaliation. The work environment should be positive and fair, free of harassment and violence. Harassment can include sexual harassment, racial jokes and offensive comments. The corporation believes in diversity and treating all employees equally, according to the ethics code. Corporate System McDonald's believes that its corporations and employees have an ethical obligation to act in the best interest of McDonald's itself -- and not for personal gain. Owners and operators of McDonald's restaurants should act independently but with integrity, following all relevant laws ans safety guidelines. Suppliers should also be treated fairly. Ethical Guidelines