The owner of 10 McDonald’s restaurants in Vermont and New Hampshire has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle sexual harassment charges filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 2021.
The commission alleged that franchise owner Coughlin, Inc. failed to protect Jennie Lumbra from “a hostile work environment based on sex” and from retaliation by a supervisor after she complained of discrimination.
Lumbra, who died in November 2021, was an employee at the Randolph McDonald’s.
The settlement agreement was filed Thursday and has yet to be approved by the court. It would require Coughlin, Inc., which is based in Rutland, to take a number of steps to prevent future sexual harassment, including mandatory yearly trainings for all employees.
It would also require the franchise owner to provide an independent, third-party hotline for employees to report sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation or other workplace violations. Coughlin, Inc. would also have to develop and distribute an anti-discrimination policy to all employees.
A third-party entity would monitor the company’s compliance with the settlement agreement.
Company owner Charles Coughlin said in a written statement that he was pleased to have reached an agreement.
“In my restaurants, nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our employees and guests. We remain deeply committed to running a values-led organization, where harassment of any kind is not tolerated,” Coughlin wrote.
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