NEW YORK, Mar 14 (AFP): US workers accused fast- food giant McDonald's Thursday of systematically stealing wages through illicit practices like forcing them to work off- the- clock and failing to pay overtime.
Seven class-action lawsuits were filed Wednesday and Thursday in California, Michigan and New York demanding that McDonald's pay back the stolen wages and end the practices that violate state and federal laws, lawyers representing the workers said.
McDonald's Corporation is named in all seven lawsuits, while franchisees were included in five of them.
The lawsuits argue that McDonald's, which took in nearly $5.6 billion in profits last year, regularly fails to compensate its already low-paid workers for all the hours they work.
It allegedly forced employees to work off-the-clock, failed to pay them overtime, shaved hours off time cards, and deprived employees of timely meal and rest breaks, among other practices.
"We've uncovered several unlawful schemes, but they all share a common purpose-to drive labor costs down by stealing wages from McDonald's workers," Michael Rubin of Altshuler Berzon, who filed the California suits, said in a statement.
"These suits have been filed to stop this widespread employee pay theft," Joseph Sellers, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, co- counsel in the lawsuits filed in California and New York, said in a conference call.
Fast-food workers, some of the worst-paid in the US economy, have been campaigning for higher wages in recent years. Last August thousands of workers went on strike at McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants in 60 cities across the nation seeking a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation by their employer.
President Barack Obama currently is pushing to raise the $7.25 federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, but is facing fierce opposition from Republicans in Congress.
Workers sue McDonald\\\'s for stealing wages
FE Team | Published: March 15, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
Share if you like