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Loading ...Gay men file human rights complaint against McDonald’s
09.16.2008 2:53pm EDT
(Louisville, Kentucky) An official complaint has been filed with the city of Louisville’s Human Relations Commission by two men who allege they were subjected to homophobic remarks by employees of a local McDonald’s restaurant.
Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s restaurant on East Market Street on July 26, 2008, while visiting Louisville for the weekend.The men say that 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 then approached the cashier, said they didn’t come to the restaurant to be insulted, and 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” according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the two men.
“Nobody should be treated the way my friends and I were at that McDonald’s,” said Eggers of Indianapolis, Indiana in a statement released Tuesday by the ACLU.
“When we finally got to speak with a supervisor, she said she didn’t see what the big deal was. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
Marlatt and Eggers say that 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. 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.
“It may just be a few dollars for a Big Mac and some fries, but if I’m going to spend my hard earned money anywhere I should be able to do so without being verbally abused,” said Marlatt. “The original name-calling was bad enough, but the fact that McDonald’s refuses to do anything to make this right just adds injury to the insult.”
The city of Louisville’s anti-discrimination ordinance includes gays.
“Even though [McDonald's] won’t return Mr. Marlatt’s phone calls, we hope the Human Relations Commission will convince them to finally respond to this. It shouldn’t be considered a tall order to expect businesses to treat customers with basic human dignity,” said Christine Sun, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project who is representing Marlatt and Eggers.
Marlatt and Eggers say all they want is an apology, a refund of the $28 they spent on the McDonald’s meal, and appropriate disciplinary action for the employees involved.
The men said that they would like to see one employee – the cashier who originally handled their order – be commended.
“The cashier was the only person behind the counter who seemed to get that this was wrong, and she was trying to get the woman who was calling us names to stop,” said Eggers. “We really appreciated that she was at least trying to do the right thing when nobody else would.”
In a separate case, an Iowa gay man says he was fired by a McDonald’s franchise in Dyersville after it was learned he was HIV-positive.
Daniel Carver, 46, earlier this month filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and has served notice to the franchise that he intends to sue for wrongful dismissal.
Earlier this year McDonald’s announced its support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, giving the organization a grant and placing an employee on the Chamber’s board of directors.
The action resulted in a boycott call by the conservative American Family Association.
Don’t just kvetch; DO something!
http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us.html?DCSext.quicklink=Y&DCSext.destination=http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us.html
Snail mail has more impact than e-mail, and they purposely make it difficult for you to contact them via e-mail. You might try “Corporate Responsibility” and see if that’s any easier than “Customer Service.”
Franchise or no, if they bear the Mickey D’s logo they are responsible to corporate HQ for certain minimum standards of behaviour.
Cheers,
Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego CA USA
This is outrageous. It’s hard to believe that someone would say something like that, especially at work. It’s sad that he hates gay people so much that he would risk his job to say those things to the couple. But, maybe he knew he wasn’t going to get into any trouble, considering how the manager reacted. They all should be fired. Does anyone know if anything has happened since then?
Tracy, it’s obvious you know little of higher education. That’s understandable, considering you only graduated from the third grade. That is, at least, the level of your intelligence evident from your response.
My Gawd Terrible Tore! What the heck are your advanced degrees in? Giving such terrible advice and suggestions, it just amazes me that you have a degree at all?
What do you expect? McD’s is the lowest rung on the restaurant ladder. When you do business with ‘white trash’, you get ‘white trashed’. Heck, I’ve been called names for being disabled (hopalong, retard, misfit, etc.), lefthanded (can’t publish it), and the list goes on. My answer? To outdo the ‘jocks’ in other ways, including finishing my 6th earned degree, my 2nd earned doctorate. Get over yourself, treat staff like they treat you (call THEM names), turn to other customers in line and say, “Hey, he/she looks like a child molester on the news, hey?”, or, “I saw his mother recently. She’s got a nice cage at the zoo.” Go on the attack. Boycott the store. spread the word. Move on.
The line manager should be fired for not reprimanding the employee who started the name calling. But if most of mcdonalds are franchises…that could prove tricky to force any action. best way – dont eat at a restaurant if they abuse the customers there. but why is that restaurant employing staff who are abusive to customers anyway? if they`re verbally abusive to customers, what else are they doing thats below standard? Surely its not good for business, especially if the management cant even work that out
I was thrilled to read about McD’s the other day and now I am horrified. The verbal abuse is bad enough, but for the corporate offices to not even respond, offer to look into the matter, etc. is beyond reproach. I now question the validity of joining the NGLCC – was that all for show as it appears they don’t give a rats a$$ about their gay clientel.
I know this is Kentucky, but WHERE did they find such ignorant and backward employees….they probably have never heard nor know the meaning of the words “discrimination” and “bigotry”.
They probably recruited them from the local church.
It would appear to me these gentlemen are being very generous in only requesting a refund of the money they paid at this bigoted place. Sadly, that penalty wouldn’t register with anyone in the corporation or at the restaurant. What is needed here is a very large fine levied against the company and a stiff fine against the employees responsible. The worst foul mouth should be fired immediately. I know this is Kentucky, but WHERE did they find such ignorant and backward employees….they probably have never heard nor know the meaning of the words “discrimination” and “bigotry”.
I hope Marlatt and Eggers et. al. get the apology and refund from that particular McDonald’s. That must have been traumatic and that employee not to mention the supervisor should be FIRED.
It is unacceptable in a place of business for the employees to conduct themselves in such a manner. McDonald’s corporate office should get involved and offer a public apology.
I’ve commended McDonald’s for standing up to the AFA’s boycott and refusing to discontinue their membership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). Although McDonald’s restaurants are owned and operated franchises run by individuals. I’m still extremely disappointed they haven’t responded to a complaint that a customer was a target of such despicable remarks. This employee, as with all others no matter what franchise they work for, represent McDonalds as a whole. I would think they have strict polices regarding the behavior of any employee. They shouldn’t be allowed to get off Scott free for humiliating any customer. They obviously don’t have respect for other people, so, don’t deserve to be respected either. I don’t wish to see anyone lose their jobs or livelihood. But, McDonald’s should hold them accountable for their actions. Whether policy calls for suspension or give them their walking papers, so be it. They have no one to blame but themselves.
McDonalds needs to be held accountable for their treatment of customers. The manager failed to see “the big deal.” The big deal included: repeated use of anti-Gay slurs, complete disregard from the manager-on-duty, a lack of professional courtesy by restaurant workers hanging up on Marlatt and refusing his refund, disregard for Louisvill’s anti-discrimination ordinance, and a complete absence of response from McDonald’s corporate office. All they want is a refund for their original meal purchase and official apology. With today’s age of technology, this incident has become a much broader issue and statement involving the GLBT Community and the enforcement of justice.
As I have said before, having a non-discrimination policy means nothing unless it is enforced. I guess since the religious nuts couldn’t force McDonalds into being officially prejudice, they have decided to crumble the foundation from within.