A McDonald’s Franchise Hired a Registered Sex Offender. Then He Raped His 14-Year-Old Employee.
The girl and her parents are suing over the company’s alleged failure to perform background checks.
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In October 2020, L.H. started working at a Pittsburgh-area McDonald’s at just 14 years old. Because she was under 18, she needed a work permit signed by her parents and school in order to work during the school year. Things went fine for the first few weeks, until January when the manager on her shift changed. Walter Garner, then 41, started sexually harassing her and two other minor employees and made sexually explicit comments, including innuendos about a spilled milkshake and saying that he wanted her “to be his Happy Meal” (a detail first reported by Mother Jones.) Garner’s verbal harassment escalated to brushing against L.H., touching her hair, and asking to see her after work. The location’s hiring manager spoke to L.H. and the two other girls over the phone about Garner’s harassment, but nothing happened—Garner even continued to work the same shift as L.H.
The harassment escalated to rape in February 2021. Garner followed L.H. into the McDonald’s bathroom during her shift, grabbed her, pulled off her uniform and forced himself on her. According to the lawsuit L.H. and her parents filed against McDonald’s in September, she went into shock, wanted to forget the whole thing happened, and kept working for Garner. He later pleaded guilty and was convicted of indecent assault on a child.
While investigating an unrelated cash register theft, the location’s owner, hiring manager, and another manager watched security footage of Garner groping L.H. They talked to him about the incident, but didn’t discipline him. Garner continued harassing her and coerced her into sexual acts outside of work. Garner only faced consequences when he showed photos of himself and L.H. to another minor employee he was targeting, and that girl told her school, which called the police immediately. Garner was arrested in April and charged with a felony and three misdemeanors.
Only then did the McDonald’s franchise fire him.
Later, L.H. learned that since 2004, Garner has been registered as a lifetime sex offender under Megan’s Law in Pennsylvania for a 2003 conviction of aggravated indecent assault on a 10-year-old girl. After Garner’s arrest and firing, the owner of the location, Michele Rice, and other managers apologized to L.H. and for the first time showed her training videos about the company’s position on sexual harassment and how to report it. Sexual harassment training is not mandated at franchised locations like the one where L.H. worked.
L.H. and her parents sued McDonald’s Corporation and the franchisee, Rice Enterprises LLC, in September, alleging negligence for allegedly failing to perform background checks or training employees on how to identify and report sexual harassment. They’re requesting a jury trial and seeking punitive damages. The complaint details that in 2003, Garner pleaded guilty to sexual assault and served prison time for crime. Last month, Garner pled guilty to statutory sexual assault and was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison and five years’ probation. He’s listed as currently incarcerated on the Megan’s Law website.
McDonald’s has faced intense scrutiny—and dozens of lawsuits—in recent years for allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against women employees. (During the cycle of bad press, the company notoriously “celebrated” 2018 International Women’s Day by turning its M logo upside-down to a W.) About 95 percent of McDonald’s stores globally are franchises, and these claims have highlighted how its franchise model allows owners and McDonald’s Corporate to point the finger at each other for training standards and work environments. L.H. didn’t realize that she had been working at a franchise, not a location owned and operated by McDonald’s corporate, but the suit targets both entities by alleging that McDonald’s exerts high levels of control over its locations. Mother Jones’ deep dive this week explains how franchise models allow companies to skirt liability for sexual harassment, using L.H.’s case as an example.