McDonald’s has never really been known for treating its employees well, per se. That being said, I’m not sure many of us realized quite how bad it is at some of the roughly 15,000 McDonald’s locations nationwide until this week when news broke that workers in 19 different states filed complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

These complaints allege dangerous working conditions, lack of training, and hazardous equipment, among other faults. A particularly common complaint appears to be that workers are often burned by the equipment they have to handle on the job. Workers cited not having gloves when they are required to handle hot equipment, or that they’ve had to clean hot grills that haven’t been turned off.

A particularly disturbing story was told by one Chicago McDonald’s worker, Brittney Berry. She claims that she slipped and burnt her arm on a grill to the extent that the burn caused nerve damage. What’s even more worrisome is that she reports that her managers responded to the incident by telling her to put mustard on her arms, of all things. She stated:

My managers kept pushing me to work faster. The managers told me to put mustard on it, but I ended up having to get rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. This is exactly why workers at McDonald’s need union rights.

While this sounds shocking and horrible, it’s evidently not that unheard of. Polling group Hart Research Associates conducted a survey last year of nearly 1,500 adult fast food workers about their injuries on the job. Almost 80 percent reported suffering from burns, and Berry’s manager apparently wasn’t too unique, because a third of those who suffered burns reported having a member of management tell them to put some sort of condiment–like mustard, mayo, butter, or ketchup–on it to treat the problem. In addition, the survey found that two-thirds of those workers had been cut by something on the job, 33 percent had been hurt while carrying some sort of heavy item, and 23 percent had fallen on a slippery surface. Overall, nearly 90 percent of the fast food workers surveyed had been hurt in some way. While that survey didn’t just focus on McDonald’s workers, but rather on the industry as a whole, it’s hard to imagine that the conditions at McDonald’s are significant outliers from its peer companies.

These complaints fit into a ongoing campaign for workers’ rights being waged against McDonald’s by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other groups. Called the “Fight for $15” campaign, it aims to up the minimum wage for McDonald’s workers as well as provide them with safer working conditions.

McDonald’s has of course responded to the allegations levied against it, bringing up the “Fight for $15” campaign in a rather dismissive way:

McDonald’s and its independent franchisees are committed to providing safe working conditions for employees in the 14,000 McDonald’s Brand U.S. restaurants. We will review these allegations. It is important to note that these complaints are part of a larger strategy orchestrated by activists targeting our brand and designed to generate media coverage.

OSHA has confirmed that the allegations are being looked into, so whether they are actually true will be decided by the government. Either way, it creates a pretty grim picture of the working conditions at these branches, and a rather convincing argument for reform.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Do You Want Pain With Your Fries? OSHA Investigating McDonald’s appeared first on Law Street.

Hey y’all!

I’ll be honest, I have never been a fan of Wal-Mart. I get the appeal of the low-cost products and everything, but I’ve never felt like any Wal-Mart I have ever been in has seemed clean or worthy of my money. I also have a huge problem with all of the lawsuits that seem to stem from Wal-Mart mistreating its employees, especially women.

Back in June there was a fatal accident involving a Wal-Mart delivery truck and a limousine party bus. The party bus was carrying comedian Tracy Morgan and his posse. One man was killed and several injured, including Morgan who was in critical condition at one point. The semi-truck driver had supposedly been awake for 24 consecutive hours and was reportedly going 20 miles per hour OVER the speed limit.

Naturally after all is said and done, Morgan has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart because of the accident. I would too if I were him, but he had to see the blame game coming.

Good ol’ Wal-Mart has come out in the last several days to say that because Morgan and the other passengers were not wearing seat belts they are to blame for their injuries. Well Wal-Mart, if that’s the only defense you have then you certainly are scraping the bottom of the barrel. But it is actually a good defense — that’s why the Wal-Mart lawyers get paid the big bucks. I want to be a lawyer, but I could never imagine taking a job for Wal-Mart no matter how much it offered to pay me. With the amount of shitty lawsuits that that company has to deal with I would probably end up retiring early and forced into the nut house. I could never work for a company that has zero respect for anyone, even its own employees.

As for the truck driver, he may have been under some pressure to get his shipment out quickly and maybe was told to overlook the trucking industry regulations because Wal-Mart needs its shelves fully stocked at all times. But then again, does a Wal-Mart-employed truck driver have a different set of rules then what OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requires? Have the great slimy lawyers of Wal-Mart found a loop hole? Don’t get me wrong, I love lawyers — I want to be one. But the idea of what Wal-Mart has gotten away with because of its lawyers rubs me the wrong way!

Should Morgan have had his seat belt on while whooping it up in the party bus? Uhm, maybe. Are there even seat belts on a party bus? I’m sure there are, but they are probably so neglected that they have been tucked under the seats by so many people and forgotten. When I think of a party bus I think of a safe driver who creates a safe atmosphere in the bus so that passengers don’t have to think about safety or even seat belts. That’s the purpose of hiring a driver, so you can have fun and be safe with a sober, capable, licensed driver.

Wal-Mart said the injuries were “caused, in whole or in part, by the plaintiffs’ failure to properly wear an appropriate available seat belt restraint device.” The company said that by not using seat belts, the plaintiffs “acted unreasonably and in disregard of plaintiffs’ own best interests.” I’m sorry, WHAT!?! YOUR DRIVER had been awake for 24 consecutive hours and YOUR DRIVER was going 20 mph OVER the speed limit! Your driver “acted unreasonably and in disregard” of his own life and the lives of any other motorists on the highway!

If you look at the pictures from the crash you can see that even if Morgan and his friends had their seat belts on there was enough damage done that it still would have caused injuries. Seat belts are great but just because you are strapped into a chair does not mean that you will not be harmed or even killed.

So to those dear Wal-Mart lawyers, you should reconsider allowing your client to blame Tracy Morgan’s injuries on the fact that he was not wearing his seat belt because I just gave a better defense. Would a judge side with me? Who knows. I’m no lawyer, yet! But if you are any good at your job you would have seen both sides of the coin before allowing a statement to be released blaming someone for injuries that were incurred because of an accident one of YOUR EMPLOYEES caused!

Shame on you Wal-Mart, shame on you!

—

Allison Dawson (@AllyD528) Born in Germany, raised in Mississippi and Texas. Graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University. Currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative.

Allison Dawson

Allison Dawson was born in Germany and raised in Mississippi and Texas. A graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University, she’s currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative. Get in touch with Allison at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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