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McDonald’s may sue fired CEO for trying to recoup his $ 40 million severance package for ‘business lies’, judge said
- Stephen Easterbrook, 53, was ousted from McDonald’s in November last year after admitting to exchanging videos and texts with an employee
- The UK CEO has been allowed to keep around $ 40 million in benefits and 26 weeks’ pay as part of his board-approved ‘no cause’ dismissal.
- McDonald’s is now suing Easterbrook for allegedly lying about three other employee relationships in the year before his dismissal
- He had an inappropriate relationship with five women who worked for the company
- Only one of the women has been identified; Director of Public Relations Denise Paleothodoros
- In a lawsuit, McDonald’s accused Easterbrook of suppressing evidence of these relationships
- The lawsuit claims that Easterbrook tried to cover up the connections to prevent investigators from knowing them before his dismissal.
- McDonald’s suit claims he deleted dozens of nude photos of employees
- The images were sent using her work email and corporate phone, depending on the costume.
- Company now tries to prevent Easterbrook from exercising stock options, seeks compensatory damages
A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal by former McDonald’s Corp CEO Steve Easterbrook to dismiss a lawsuit by the fast food chain seeking to claw back millions of dollars in severance because he allegedly covered up inappropriate sexual relations with employees.
McDonald’s knew it had entered into a consensual, non-physical relationship with an employee when the company agreed to severance pay estimated at $ 41.8 million in November 2019, the two sides agreed.
The former CEO argued in his motion to dismiss that the catering company had evidence of his other sexual relations with employees on its computer system and therefore should have known about it.
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A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected the candidacy of former McDonald’s Corp CEO Steve Easterbrook to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the fast food chain
McDonald’s knew it had entered into a consensual non-physical relationship with an employee when the company agreed to severance pay estimated at $ 41.8 million in November 2019, the two sides agreed.
Delaware Chancellor Court Vice-Chancellor Joseph Slights, however, said McDonald’s was justified in relying on Easterbrook’s claims that he had only one inappropriate relationship when the Chicago-based company ousted him.
An Easterbrook lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
McDonald’s said it was anxious to prove Easterbrook’s misconduct.
“He violated company policies, disrespected its values and abused the trust of his colleagues, the board of directors, our franchisees and our shareholders,” he said in a statement .
After his dismissal, it emerged that Easterbrook had already escaped censorship for another alleged office romance. It later emerged that Easterbrook had apparently dated Denise Paleothodoros, 46, when she was assigned to the McDonald’s account by her public relations firm. She says she reported the relationship to managers and was transferred to another account
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after hitting severance pay, saying it had never given directors a full picture of its employee relationships.
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after hitting severance pay, saying it never gave directors a full picture of its employee relationships.
He said that after Easterbrook’s ouster, an anonymous tip led to the discovery of dozens of photos of naked or sexually explicit women, including three employees, which Easterbrook sent to his personal email account from his business account.
McDonald’s said Easterbrook deleted the emails shortly before he was ousted, but remained on a company server.
“ This active cover-up makes it at least reasonably conceivable that the company had no way of knowing the full extent of Easterbrook’s fault, ” Slights wrote.
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