Problem$-$Solving Application$$McDonald$\text{'}$s Workers Protest Sexual Harassment: What Should Management Do$?$

McDonald$$s currently faces a sexual harassment crisis with no easy solutions. Employees have a list of specific requests for policy changes that may improve the issue, but the nature of the fast$-$food and restaurant industries may place limits on what McDonald$$s can reasonably do$.$ This activity is important because sexual harassment and discrimination are issues that can arise in any workplace, and understanding the nature of these issues is essential to preventing them before they get out of control.

The goal of this activity is for you to consider both the requests made by McDonald$$s employees and the factors that make them difficult to implement, in order to move toward feasible recommendations for what McDonald$$s should do about this important issue.

Read about the sexual harassment problem at McDonald$$s$.$ Then, using the three$-$step problem$-$solving approach, answer the questions that follow.

Hundreds of McDonald$$s employees in ten U$.$S$.$ cities recently staged a series of strikes to call attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment at work and to urge the company to take more active steps to prevent it$.$This is more important than work,$$ said one Kansas City employee who experienced harassment and skipped her shift to participate in that city$$s rally. $$We have the strength to protect one another and demand the justice we deserve,$$ she told the crowd$\mathrm{.}1$

With historically low wages and a large share of the work force, one that consists predominantly of women and young adults, the restaurant industry and the fast$-$food industry in particular employ many people typically vulnerable to rights violations. Four in ten female employees in these sectors report having received unwanted sexual advances, and nearly three in ten report various forms of harassment. The majority, including $90$ percent of immigrant workers, keep quiet about such offenses, and many are unaware that they are legally entitled to protection and recourse.

The recent protests, organized by a labor rights group called Fight for $$15,$ were intended to draw public attention to employees$$ dissatisfaction with McDonald$$s response to complaints. $$What McDonald$$s does on this issue, how they choose to treat it$,$ how they act on it proactively, will have influence on other stores,$$ said a lawyer for the workers$\mathrm{.}2$ Among workers$$ demands are better training, more effective ways to file complaints, and an employee committee specifically empowered to look into sexual misconduct issues at the company$$s $14,000$ stores.

Ten McDonald$$s workers have already filed sexual harassment and retaliation complaints against male supervisors with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission $($EEOC$).$ Nearly $30$ other employees claim they have been harassed at work. Two enforcement problems specific to the restaurant industry are the fact that employees often depend on tips, making it difficult for them to challenge poor customer behavior, and the franchise structure of the fast$-$food sector, which large companies may feel absolves them from any responsibility for employee relations at individual stores. Workers want McDonald$$s to take a bigger role in setting human resource policies at the franchise level, believing this will extend needed protections to employees of franchise businesses that may not have a human resource department or a safe process for handling complaints about workplace harassment. As the lawyer quoted above observed, McDonald$$s is a huge company and easily capable of doing this effectively if it chooses to$.$

McDonald$$s statement said, $$We have strong policies, procedures and training in place specifically designed to prevent sexual harassment. To ensure we are doing all that can be done, we have engaged experts in the areas of prevention and response.$3$ Employees, however, say nothing is being done$\mathrm{.}4$

Apply the $3-$Step Problem$-$Solving Approach

Step $1$: What is the problem in this case?

Step $2$: Identify the causes of the problem.

Step $3$: Make a recommendation to correct the situation.