WORKERS for fast food giant McDonald's have revealed what they call a toxic culture of sexual harassment and bullying at branches across the UK.
Teenage employees have told of being routinely groped during shifts - while there have also been accusations of racism being rife.
More than 100 current and former staff have made the claims as part of a new BBC investigation, prompting McDonald's to apologise and threaten offenders with the sack.
Whistleblowers gave the BBC 31 allegations of sexual assault, 78 related to sexual harassment, 18 of racism and six of homophobia.
The UK's equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has now set up a new email hotline to deal with complaints.
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Managers at McDonald's outlets across Britain were said to be responsible for many of the harassment and assaults - with senior staff allegedly "turning a blind eye" when complaints were made.
Among the accusations were a 17-year-old worker in Cheshire teling how a colleague 20 years older used a racial slur, asked to expose himself to her and talked of wanting them to make a "black and white" baby together.
One current employee described being viewed by male colleagues as "fresh meat" when joining a branch in Nottingham.
An ex-employee described a senior manager at her Plymouth branch choking her and grabbing her bottom, as well as a shift manager sending her sexually-explicit images.
There were also claims a manager in Hampshire suggested a male employee aged 16 perform sexual acts in return for vapes.
A Cheshire manager is said to have preyed on 16-year-old female starters, trying to pressurise them into sex.
The BBC also heard from a woman saying she was the victim of racist jokes at an Aberdeen outlet and a current worker in Essex telling of anti-Semitic abuse.
Another employee in Oxfordshire, originally from India, said colleagues talked in "gibberish" to irritate her and called a fellow worker from Pakistan a terrorist.
Shelby, who began working in a Berkshire branch last year when aged 16, told of sexual harassment by colleagues being commonplace.
She said: "They'd grope stomach, waists, bums.
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"Every shift I worked, there would be at least a comment being made or I'd be brushed, a hand brushed across me, or it would be a more severe thing like having my bum grabbed, hips grabbed."
She described how last summer one fellow worker in his 50s came up behind her at the counter, grabbing and pulling her on to his groin.
She said: "I just froze - I felt disgusted."
Shelby eventually quit, sending a resignation email describing her branch as a "toxic work environment".
She told the BBC: "I think that they don't really think about their staff at all.
"They have little to no regard for our feelings and how we might feel in the workplace and how we're being treated - because if they did, they'd do something about it."
Another victim, 17-year-old Chinwere, spoke of being sexually and racially harassed by a much older man at her Cheshire branch.
Allegations of sexual harassment at McDonald's were previously raised five years ago by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, which said it had received 1,000 complaints.
The union described the new allegations as "shocking".
McDonald's has almost 180,000 people working in 1,450 restaurants, with three-quarters of employees aged between 16 and 25.
The company has now "deeply apologised" following the BBC probe.
Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, said: "Every one of the 177,000 employees in McDonald’s UK deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.
"There are clearly instances where we have fallen short and for that we deeply apologise.
"There is simply no place for harassment, abuse, or discrimination of any kind at McDonald’s – and we will investigate all allegations brought to us.
"All proven breaches of our code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures we can legally impose, up to and including dismissal.
"In February this year McDonald’s UK committed with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to a zero-tolerance approach to any kind of harassment.
"This is supported by a companywide programme of training, the roll-out of new policies and strict reporting processes - all aimed at offering the highest possible level of workplace protection for all our employees."
The firm said more than 2,000 managers had now completed "full awareness training".
McDonald's branches which have previously been described as among the UK's worst include one in the Greater Manchester district of Harpuhey and another in Ealing, West London.
Meanwhile, Mr Macrow last month blamed town hall planning rules red tape for preventing McDonald's from opening more UK branches.
British business executive Steve Easterbrook stepped down as McDonald's CEO in the US in November 2019 after admitting to a consensual relationship with an employee, against company policy.
