Mcdonald's Franchisee Sued Over Employee, Manager Relationship

(Thursday, June 21, 2007) - A teenage girl has sued the franchise owner of a McDonald's restaurant in Coral Springs, Fla., following a nearly yearlong sexual relationship she had with a store manager that started when she was 15 years old and he was 22.

In her Broward Circuit Court suit filed last week, Jane Doe and her mother allege that Coral Springs-based franchisee Haronmar Inc. negligently trained and supervised store manager Hector Figueroa, now 24, who faces felony charges of lewd and lascivious battery. The suit claims Figueroa and Doe had sex in the manager's office and on the roof.

"When you send your child to her first job when she is 15, you certainly don't expect anything like this," her mother, who did not want her daughter or herself to be identified, said in an interview. Her daughter, who's now 17, is in therapy, she said.

Until last month, Haronmar owned and operated five McDonald's restaurants in the Coral Springs area. Haronmar's president, Brenda S. Wells, declined to comment or provide any information about her company. Haronmar's attorney, Andrew B. Cripe, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago, did not return calls for comment by deadline.

The suit alleges sexual harassment, and the negligent training, retention and supervision of its managers, and a hostile work environment. It seeks compensatory damages, pain and suffering damages and punitive damages.

Haronmar's "conduct was so exploitive and pervasive toward Jane Doe, and because of it, Jane Doe's workplace became so hostile that no reasonable female teenager below the age of consent and/or any reasonable female would have continued working there," the suit said.

According to the suit, Figueroa dated another minor employee before Doe, and the company knew about their relationship. The suit also claims that a different supervisor at the same McDonald's restaurant made suggestive comments to Doe.

According to Doe's Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney, Loring Spolter, sexual abuse and harassment of teenage employees in workplaces is a growing national problem. That's particularly true in the fast food and retail industries, which employ large numbers of teenagers.

Her mother said her daughter was "devastated" when the relationship with Figueroa ended. "She thought he was in love with her and wanted to marry her," the mother said. But she realized "it wasn't this great love affair she thought it was."

Figueroa's criminal defense lawyer, Gary Ostrow, said Doe's family knew about the relationship. "The only thing that led up to her dropping a dime on my client is when he broke up with her," Ostrow said. "She saw a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and decided to pursue [a civil suit]."

Ostrow declined to talk about his client's relationship with Doe, fearing he would jeopardize his case. Figueroa is out on bond. His criminal case is continued through August. According to Broward County assistant state attorney Joseph Zager, Figueroa faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

KISSES IN THE FRIDGE

Jane Doe began working at the Haronmar-owned and managed McDonald's in Coral Springs in March 2005, according to the lawsuit. A few months later, Haronmar transferred Figueroa to that restaurant.

The suit claims that Figueroa then "began sexually exploiting the minor plaintiff through use of a series of calculated steps." These steps included kissing her in a walk-in refrigerator, changing her work schedule so that she worked late night shifts with him, and telling her that he was falling in love with her.

In March 2006, according to the suit, Doe told her older sister about her relationship with Figueroa, and her sister told her mother, who contacted the police. The mother also had her daughter quit the job.

According to a May 2006 police report, Figueroa said he had a "consensual sexual relationship" with the plaintiff, even though he knew she was 15 when their relationship started.

Last November, Spolter filed charges of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations. In March, the EEOC issued a "right to sue" letter at Spolter's request.

The June 14 lawsuit alleges that Haronmar knew or should have known of "the proclivity of its managers" to engage in sexual relationships with underage employees. It also said that the company should have taken effective steps to stop the sex with and sexual harassment of underage employees.

According to the suit, the relationship between Jane Doe and Figueroa was not the only instance of an adult manager engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct with minor female employees.

"They did not intervene, and then [Figueroa] preyed on my client next," Spolter said.

The EEOC has launched an educational initiative to help eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination against teenagers called Youth @ Work. "Teenage workers are among the most vulnerable workers," said James Ryan, an EEOC spokesman. "It's their first job, and they don't know their rights as employees."

Although the EEOC doesn't track the number of sexual harassment and discrimination cases filed by teens across the country, Ryan said anecdotal evidence demonstrates that it is a growing problem.

Doe's mother said she thought McDonald's would be a safe place for her daughter to work. "It's a mother's worst nightmare," she said. "You'd think McDonald's would be a reputable place."

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