McDonald’s wants its former CEO Steve Easterbrook to give back the $105 million it paid him in severance and the fast-food giant is suing him to get it. 

Easterbrook was fired in 2019 after it was revealed he has sex at work with several female employees. In August 2020, McDonald’s filed a lawsuit against Easterbrook for lying to its board about the extent of his relationships with employees. McDonald’s board said he violated company policy by demonstrating “poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee.”

Easterbrook’s severance package was $105 million in cash and stock; it’s not clear how much of that is stock or cash, CNN reported.

The lawsuit comes at a time when McDonald’s is dealing with sexual harassment complaints by workers at several locations. In October, workers walked out at restaurants in 12 U.S. cities protesting how the company handles sexual harassment claims. Workers have filed more than 50 complaints and lawsuits alleging harassment at corporate-owned and franchise McDonald’s outlets since 2016, according to Fight For $15, the campaign group that organized the protest, BBC reported.

A 2020 survey of nearly 800 female workers at McDonald’s restaurants and franchises found that three-quarters said they were harassed at work.

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“This settlement holds Steve Easterbrook accountable for his clear misconduct, including the way in which he exploited his position as CEO,” Enrique Hernandez, Jr., the chairman of McDonald’s board of directors, said in the court filing. “The resolution avoids a protracted court process and allows us to move forward.”

Easterbrook admitted in the SEC filing that he “failed at times to uphold McDonald’s values and fulfill certain of my responsibilities as a leader of the company.”

McDonald’s found out about Easterbrook’s relationships with employees in July and opened a new investigation proving the sexual relationships, according to the lawsuit. The evidence for those relationships, according to the suit, came in the form of “dozens of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photographs and videos of various women,” including photographs of three female employees, CNN reported.

Photo: Fast-food workers strike and protest for a $15/hour minimum wage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 15, 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fibonacciblue/
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