Reference no: EM132809900

McDonald's Discrimination row

On July 24, 2008, two Muslim women filed a lawsuit against the world's largest fast food restaurant chain, McDonald's, its management company at Dearborn, Michigan, USA, and one of its managers, alleging that they had been discriminated against during their job interviews because they were wearing the hijab. In the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, Michigan, the women claimed that the discrimination had been going on for years and demanded US$10 million as compensation.

The two women Toi Whitfield (Whitfield) of Detroit, and Quiana Pugh (Pugh) of Dearborn alleged that the manager had told them that they would not be considered for employment unless they removed their hijab. According to the women, Pugh had approached McDonald's for an interview in July 2008, while Whitfield had her interview in November 2006. In not providing them with a job opportunity due to their religious beliefs, the company had violated a state civil rights law and the representatives of the plaintiffs were considering filing civil rights complaints with the federal and state governments, the women claimed.

The lawsuit came at a time when restaurants in the US were taking initiatives to tap the opportunity provided by the large Muslim population in the country. There were around six to seven million Muslims living in the US and Dearborn, in particular, was a Muslim-dominated area. Many restaurants in Dearborn had started offering menus with halal5 food to target this segment and the McDonald's outlet in Dearborn was one of them. In fact, the Dearborn restaurant was one of only the two McDonald's restaurants in the US that served halal Chicken McNuggets.

The case drew a lot of criticism from lawyers and Muslim bodies against McDonald's. "They'll take Muslim dollars, but won't hire Muslim female employees," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan.

However, Finley Management Inc., the management company that ran the McDonald's outlet in Dearborn, claimed that it had a strict non-discrimination policy. "Finley Management has a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination with regard to race, gender, religion, or national origin, in hiring or in any other aspect of employment. We would caution anyone from jumping to conclusions without having all the facts," it said in a statement. McDonald's too claimed to be an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity. On its website it claimed: "McDonald's is the world's community restaurant. We are proud of our long-standing commitment to a workforce that is diverse. We believe in developing and maintaining a diverse workforce that will strengthen the McDonald's system. Diversity at McDonald's is about understanding, recognizing, and valuing the differences that make each person unique."

Answer the following questions

1. Comment on the issues cropped up in MacDonald's. Is it a problem of diversity or inclusion? Substantiate your answer.

2. How McDonald's can bring back the good reputation after this discrimination row? Assume you are heading the public relations team of McDonald's to come up with a systematic plan for the same.

3. Explain various internal trainings which are useful for McDonald's in this context of discrimination issues.