Black Executive sues McDonalds for racial discrimination

An executive at McDonald’s has filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing CEO Chris Kempczinski of racial discrimination.
According to news sources, Michael Peaster oversaw Kempczinski’s safety as vice president of global safety, security, and intelligence.
After allegedly criticizing Kempczinski at a town hall meeting in 2021, the lawsuit alleges that Peaster was the target of a months-long campaign to have him fired.
The meeting’s main topic was the CEO’s 2021 text message to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, where he appeared to blame the parents of two children who had been shot and killed—one at a nearby McDonald’s for not doing enough to protect their children.
Kempczinski said in a text to Business Insider that, “With both, the parents failed those kids, which I know is something you can’t say.” He was widely criticized for his message that it would be “even harder to fix.”
According to the lawsuit, Peaster said he thought Kempczinski was in denial about the racist content of his texts and the outrage they had caused. “We cannot paint all parents who have children who are victims of gun violence with a broad brush,” Peaster said, in part, during the town hall meeting.
“You must be understanding and compassionate to families struggling to make ends meet and keep their children safe while living in neighborhoods facing challenges,” he said.
Peaster did not face immediate repercussions or punishment for his remarks according to the lawsuit. He faced discrimination and exclusion in the year preceding his termination, which will take effect on December 31.
“The suit reads that this termination was discriminatory against Michael Peaster because of his race.” “It” refers to an unspecified event. It could be read to mean that the event was retaliatory against Michael Peaster, or that Michael Peaster’s respectful but legitimate contradiction of Kempczinski was retaliatory.
This isn’t the only time McDonald’s has been accused of racial discrimination under Kempczinski’s leadership.
In January 2020, Vicki Guster-Hines and Domineca Neal, two Black McDonald’s executives, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the business. The lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
On August 2020, 52 ex-Black McDonald’s franchisees filed a $1 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against the fast food giant, alleging that McDonald’s purposefully opened locations in “crime-ridden” neighborhoods with low sales and deceived them about the financial potential of owning restaurants.
The Peaster case timeline is incorrect according to McDonald’s because Peaster was promoted to vice president in January of 2022, two months after he made the remarks as a senior director. Peaster was fired in November for poor job performance, despite his allegations.
“These claims go against everything our leadership team and company stand for,” McDonald’s said in a statement, according to Business Insider. Smith is a teacher at the school”
The school’s teacher is Mr. Smith. Peaster was promoted in January 2022 to an expanded role; however, he was subsequently terminated due to serious performance issues.
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“To suggest that his termination was based on anything other than performance lapses would be to ignore the facts.” The statement continues, “We intend to vigorously defend against this lawsuit and to continue to lead with our values.”