McDonald's hit for using Weinstein law firm for harassment advice

In an email to the AP, McDonald's officials wrote, "We have policies, procedures and training in place that are specifically created to prevent sexual harassment at our company and company-owned restaurants, and we firmly believe that our franchisees share this commitment".

Adrianna Alvarez, who has worked for McDonald's in Chicago for nine years, says the problem is "nationwide, worldwide".

Workers in Chicago, McDonald's home town, Durham, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Orlando, San Francisco and St Louis will all walk out at lunchtime in an effort to highlight their struggle and call on the company to take action.

The company also said it had engaged prevention and response experts "to evolve our policies so everyone who works at McDonald's does so in a secure environment every day".

Protesters outside McDonald's Chicago headquarters held a five-minute moment of silence "to highlight how we've been silenced too long about sexual harassment".

McDonald's did not specifically address its use of Seyfarth Shaw, but said in its own emailed statement that the company has "strong policies, procedures and training in place specifically created to prevent sexual harassment".

Responding to rampant alleged sexual misconduct and emboldened by the #MeToo movement taking root nationally, McDonald's workers across 10 US cities abandoned their restaurants at lunchtime Tuesday to take part in what is being hailed as the first multi-state strike to specifically target sexual harassment.

She said she left McDonald's for a while in 2017 and is now working at a different store. Workers want McDonald's to form a committee on sexual harassment that has workers, corporate representatives and leaders of national women's groups on board. "After that he would ignore me on the job and yell at me in front of my co-workers". She told the Guardianshe had multiple coworkers make unwelcome sexual advances: one grabbed her breasts at the restaurant; another pinned her to a bathroom wall and tried to have sex with her.

In Chicago, another worker said she was sacked after she reported her manager for sexual harassment, according to NWLC.

The strike is related to the Fight For $15 movement, in which workers are calling for a better minimum wage. She said all the women she knows in fast food have examples or know of people who have been affected.

40% of fast-food workers have reported experiencing sexual harassment. Since our founding, we've been committed to a culture that fosters the respectful treatment of everyone.

- Fight For 15 Nor Cal (@NorCalFF15) September 18, 2018 Kim was sexually harrassed at McDonalds twice at McDonalds before she filed a lawsuit to stop the harrassment.

But the legacy of abuse continues, workers say.

The #MeToo movement has triggered sexual harassment victims across the restaurant industry to speak out about improper behavior in the workplace.