U.S. Department
of Justice
United States Department of Justice Settlement with McDonald’s USA, LLC
Available En Español
On November 19, 2015, the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (“OSC”) reached a settlement with McDonald’s USA, LLC and its corporate affiliates and subsidiaries (“McDonald’s”) resolving allegations that McDonald’s discriminated against immigrant employees of McDonald’s-owned restaurants. The investigation and settlement only address actions by McDonald’s corporate-owned restaurants, not its franchises.
OSC’s investigation found that McDonald’s had a longstanding practice of requiring its employees who are lawful permanent residents to show a new permanent resident card, often referred to as a “Green Card”, when their original document expired, even though the law prohibits this practice.
Under the settlement agreement, McDonald’s will compensate lawful permanent resident employees of McDonald’s-owned restaurants who lost work or lost their jobs due to this documentary practice. Lawful permanent residents who worked for a corporate-owned McDonald’s location (not a franchise) between September 23, 2012, and March 1, 2015, may be eligible for compensation if they were fired or forced to miss work because they could not show a new card when their permanent resident card was set to expire. More information on the process for obtaining back wages is found in the settlement agreement’s claims procedure, found below.
Current and former McDonald’s employees with questions about the Department of Justice’s investigation or the settlement agreement may call: 844-401-3737 or email: OSC.McDonalds@usdoj.gov. We will attempt to return calls or emails within 5 days.
More information about the McDonald’s-OSC settlement:
Link to Settlement and Exhibits
Link to Claims Procedure
Link to Press Release
Website to find out if a McDonald's is currently corporate-owned or a franchise. (The information contained in this link may not necessarily reflect whether the restaurant you worked at was corporate-owned at the time of your alleged violation. Please call the above numbers if you have any questions.)
More information about OSC: