McDonald's Staff Harassed Gay Customers

[ccharles000]

The ACLU is representing two gay men in an official complaint to the Louisville Human Relations Commission after an employee at a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Louisville called them and three friends a series of anti-gay slurs.

Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at the McDonald's restaurant on July 26, 2008, while visiting Louisville for the weekend. While they waited for their food to be prepared, an employee behind the counter referred to them as "faggots" to another employee. Marlatt and Eggers asked to speak with a manager. As they waited for the supervisor on duty to appear, the employee who had called them "faggots" started arguing with them, repeatedly calling them "faggots" in front of other customers and calling one of them a "cocksucker" and "bitch."

The supervisor on duty refused to refund the group's purchase, claiming that only the restaurant's general manager could authorize a refund. Marlatt said he attempted several times in the following weeks to contact both the general manager of the McDonald's and the corporate offices. But when he filed reports with a corporate customer service number for McDonald's, Marlatt said, he never received any sort of response, and every time he called the McDonald's where the incident took place the staff hung up on him.

Louisville has a local human rights ordinance which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations such as restaurants.

Marlatt and Eggers say they want an apology, a refund of the $28 they spent on the McDonald's meal, and appropriate disciplinary action for the employees involved.

http://www.bgay.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=579&Itemid=23

[saltpoint]

1. My first take on this story is that McDonald's can afford to

a) cover the refund sum; and
b) train its employees not to act like cretinous goons.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. McD's can do "a"

a) cover the refund; and
b) train the newly hired replacements for the terminated cretinous goons.

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

8. I'm thinking that McDonald's will settle this generously and

swiftly, as they would appear to be the offending party.

How dare those people come into their restaurant and order food, anyway.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. I wish something like this would happen in front of a

loud mouthed hard ass like me.

This is disgusting. Those employees should be fired.

[habitual]

3. what the hell kind of manager is running that joint?

and how do 2 people spend $28 at McD's for a meal?

[Midlodemocrat]

5. There were a total of five people in their party.

The two who were harrassed and three friends.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Speaking of fast food, ...

what kind of wine goes with eggamuffins?

Hi Midlodemocrat
:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

10. LOL. Don't know. Not much of an egg fan.

:hi: JABOTHB!!!!!!

[donco6]

22. A Champagne Mimosa would be swell.

:)

But I can't get McDs to serve it, so I settle for coffee.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. It sounded so good

I made a batch this morning, so I can eat the egg-a-muffin on the drive to work, while enjoying the mimosa, and posting the joy while using "found wi-fi" at the gas station on the drive to work. And to make it even better, the post-Ike gas prices are relatively tolerable.

Life is good!

:hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Five people, not two

The OP mentioned five customers. $28 seems reasonable.

[peacebird]

6. sigh... no more McD's for me - and i really really *liked* McD's sweet tea....

but as much as I like their sweet tea, I *hate* hearing that McD's corporate offices didn't immediately take action against the local store and have that employee punished (fired).

It's simply unacceptable. I am printing this article and dropping it off at my local McD's along with a note explaining why I won't be stopping there in the future. (embarrassing as it is, the drive thru staff know me as I stop in for sweet tea so many mornings a week....)

[givemebackmycountry]

11. It's a good thing I wasn't in that store at the time...

I hate that shit.
I would have been over the counter in a heartbeat, and one or more of those assholes would have been heading for the deep fryer.
Put me in jail for the night, it would have been worth it.

[conscious evolution]

25. Teach 'em how to bob for french fries.eh? nt

[chatnoir]

12. And that's why those neanderthals are working at McDonalds!

How disgusting. I hope these assholes at least got fired and these customers take McD's to the cleaners. Appalling.

[TwixVoy]

13. I wonder if this is a corporate owned McDonalds

or a franchise?

If it is a franchise corporate McDonalds has no power over the staffing. I don't know much about how a franchise works beyond that, but I would be shocked if they didn't have some kind of contract provision that requires the franchise to behave in a certain way to maintain the 'image' of mcdonalds. Don't know how far corporate mcdonalds can control a franchise though?

[davsand]

14. Some minimum wage McDonald's employees are stupid assholes. This is big news?

I am not minimizing what happened in any way, but you have to know that it isn't too much of a shock to hear that there are a few minimum wage employees out there working who are of less than average IQ.

From my own personal observation from working in fast food, trust me, there are some folks who do that job simply because they can't qualify for anything else and they aspire to be nothing else. For those few, the quote "there's room to move as a fry cook" is just about dead on.

YMMV, but I am not terribly shocked to hear this happened. I am, however, horrified at how the management and the McDonald's corporation has behaved. The food there sucks anyhow (both in quality and nutrition!) so it isn't gonna be too much of a challenge for me to drive past those golden arches.


:puke:


Laura

[ColbertWatcher]

16. "I am not terribly shocked to hear this happened." I am. Aren't we in the 21st century? n/t

[davsand]

19. You DO realize how much hate is out there--right?

There are people out there who will stomp you just for the hell of it and being different in *ANY* way can and does set them off. Several years ago I lost a friend to a little "sport" played frequently by the stupid and the redneck called "fag bashing." They stomped him, fractured his skull, and he died.

Hearing about a few stupid little fucks working for minimum wage shooting their mouths off from behind a counter really doesn't amaze me because a lot of times they only hunt in packs. I am a bit surprised they did it in public because usually they prefer to hunt in isolation. You see, when they do that shit in public other people might get involved and they might get caught or get the crap beaten out of them for being stupid.

If the management refuses to do anything, my personal opinion is shut that f***ing store down by any means. If the corporation refuses to act then I figure it is up to us all to make our opinions known and spend money someplace else.

YMMV.


Laura

[ColbertWatcher]

21. Yes, I realize that. But, I also realize this is the 21st Century!

I'm tired of making excuses for people who can't accept that we're no longer permitted to be assholes!

EVOLVE PEOPLE!

[vanderBeth]

15. And what they want is totally reasonable.

I probably would've sued for more. :evilgrin:

[ck4829]

17. Isn't the American Family Association doing a homophobic boycott of McDonald's

Makes me wonder...

[Sebastian Doyle]

23. Wouldn't that be ironic?

McDonald boycotted by the religious reich for being "pro-gay" AND boycotted by gays for being homophobic.... at the same time.

[Towlie]

18. I'll bet McDonald's will make this right. After all, look at all their gay Ronald McDonald clowns!

[npk]

20. There is no way McDonald's will be able to rectify this situation

Offering a refund and useless corporate stamped apology is about as rectifying as offering somebody a band aid after you hit them over the head with a shovel. The two gentlemen in the story were humiliated by most likely a teenager who probably thinks the greatest enjoyment out of life is shooting bottles off a fence post and jacking his pick up truck ten feet off the ground. The employee could careless and McDonald's, as a corporation, is so removed from the problems of it's restaurant on a local level, that they couldn't possibly even begin to make the situation right. About the only thing McDonald's could do is offerer better pay and training, that would attract more sensible employees, and weed out the single celled idiots working for peanuts and beer money. I have never gotten what I would consider quality service from McDonald's, and that is why I do not take my son there. McDonald's lost my business a log time ago. I am sure McDonald's will send a letter of apology, and coupons or a refund, they may even fire the employee, but that will not rectify the situation.