McDonald’s can sue the fired CEO for trying to recover his $ 40 million compensation package over his ‘business lies’, says the judge
- Stephen Easterbrook, 53, was kicked out of McDonald’s in November last year after admitting to exchanging videos and texting with an employee
- The British CEO has been authorized to maintain about $ 40 million in share-based benefits and 26 weeks of pay as part of the “just cause” termination approved by the board
- McDonald’s is now suing Easterbrook for allegedly lying about three other employee relationships in the year prior to his dismissal
- He had inadequate relationships with five women who worked for the company
- Only one of the women was identified; PR Executive Denise Paleothodoros
- In a lawsuit, McDonald’s accused Easterbrook of deleting evidence of these relationships
- The lawsuit claims Easterbrook tried to cover up the relationships to prevent investigators from knowing about them before his resignation
- McDonald’s lawsuit claims it deleted dozens of nude photos of employees
- The images were sent using your work email and company phone.
- The company is now trying to stop Easterbrook from exercising its stock options and is seeking damages.
A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected the offer by former McDonald’s Corp CEO Steve Easterbrook to reject a lawsuit by the fast-food chain that sought to recover millions of dollars in severance pay because it allegedly covered up sexual relations. improper with employees.
McDonald’s knew it had been involved in a consensual non-physical relationship with an employee when the company agreed to an estimated $ 41.8 million severance package in November 2019, both sides agreed.
The former CEO argued in his motion to reject that the restaurant company had evidence of its other sexual relations with employees on its computer system, so it should be aware of them.
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A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected the offer by former McDonald’s Corp Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook to reject a lawsuit from the fast-food chain
McDonald’s knew it had been involved in a non-physical consensual relationship with an employee when the company agreed to an estimated $ 41.8 million severance package in November 2019, both sides agreed
Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of the Delaware Chancellery Court, however, said McDonald’s was justified in relying on Easterbrook’s claims that it had only one inappropriate relationship when the Chicago-based company fired him.
An Easterbrook lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
McDonald’s said it hopes to prove Easterbrook’s misconduct.
“He violated company policies, disrespected his values and abused the trust of his co-workers, the board, our franchisees and our shareholders,” the statement said.
After he was fired, it was discovered that Easterbrook had already escaped censorship for another alleged office romance. It later came to light that Easterbrook would have 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 the managers and she was transferred to another account
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after reaching the severance package, claiming he never gave directors a complete picture of his relationship with employees
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after reaching the severance package, claiming he never gave directors a complete picture of his relationship with employees.
He said that after Easterbrook’s expulsion, an anonymous tip led to the discovery of dozens of nude or sexually explicit photos of women, including three employees, that Easterbrook sent to his personal email account from his corporate account.
McDonald’s said Easterbrook deleted the emails shortly before he was removed, but they remained on a company server.
“This active concealment makes it at least reasonably conceivable that the company had no way of knowing the full extent of Easterbrook’s misconduct,” wrote Slights.