The fast-food chain, McDonald's, faces charges of firing an employee from one of its subsidiaries in the American city of Chicago after participating in a lawsuit accusing the company of "failing" to protect employees during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
According to a complaint filed by the International Federation of Service Employees before the National Labor Relations Council, an American government agency that looks into problems related to workers, the company dismissed an employee named Ryan Freeman "in an attempt to dissuade other employees from engaging" in similar work, according to the agency Bloomberg.
Five employees, including Freeman, filed a lawsuit against McDonald's last month in an Illinois state court relating to their working conditions at its restaurants during the epidemic crisis.
The lawsuit indicates that they did not receive proper safety training, were forced to work in close contact with each other, and were asked to reuse protective gloves.
The lawsuit said that the restaurant notified the employee in May that he would continue to work, but after testifying at a hearing about his case, his services were dropped.
McDonald's said in a statement that it adopted "strict policies against retaliation practices against employees," noting that the branch manager decided to lay off about half of the employment in that period.
McDonald's confirmed that they had updated safety measures several times since the outbreak, conducted health checks for employees, erected protective barriers, and provided them with gloves and masks.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by key workers during the period of home residency orders in the United States, including a lawsuit filed by Amazon warehouse workers against the giant.
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