McDonald’s could sue the sacked CEO to recover his $ 40 million severance package due to his “lies about business”, judge says
- Stephen Easterbrook, 53, was fired from McDonald’s in November last year after admitting to exchanging videos and text messages with an employee.
- The UK chief executive has been allowed to hold about $ 40 million in share-based benefits and 26 weeks of payment as part of his board approval without cause.
- McDonald’s is now complaining to Easterbrook for allegedly lying about three other employment relationships in the year before his termination
- He had inappropriate relationships with five women who worked at the company
- Only one of the women was identified; PR Executive Denise Paleothodoros
- In one case, McDonald’s Easterbrook accused him of deleting evidence of the relationship
- In the case, it is alleged that Easterbrook tried to cover up the relationships to prevent investigating officers from finding out about it before he was fired.
- According to McDonald’s, he deleted dozens of nude photos of the employees
- The images were sent using his work email and his business phone
- The company is now trying to prevent Easterbrook from exercising its stock options and is demanding compensation
A Delaware judge on Tuesday dismissed former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook for dismissing a lawsuit by fast food chain to recover millions of dollars in severance pay because he allegedly covered up improper sexual relations with employees .
McDonald’s knew he had one non-physical agreement with an employee when the company agreed to a severance package estimated at $ 41.8 million in November 2019, both parties agreed.
The former CEO denied in his motion that the restaurant business had evidence of its other sexual relationships with employees on its computer system, so they should have been aware of it.
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A Delaware judge on Tuesday dismissed Steve McDonald’s prospective CEO Steve Easterbrook for dismissing a lawsuit through the fast food chain.
McDonald’s knew he had one non-physical agreement with an employee when the company agreed to a severance package estimated at $ 41.8 million in November 2019, both parties agreed.
However, Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of the Court of Chancery in Delaware said McDonald’s was justified in relying on Easterbrook’s rulings that he had only a single inappropriate relationship when the company in Chicago expelled him.
An Easterbrook attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
McDonald’s said it was looking forward to proving Easterbrook’s misconduct.
“He has violated the company’s policy, disregarded its values and abused the trust of its employees, the board of directors, our franchisees and our shareholders,” reads a statement.
After he was fired, it appeared that Easterbrook had previously escaped censorship due to another alleged office romance. It was later revealed that Easterbrook apparently dated Denise Paleothodoros, 46, when she was assigned to the McDonald’s account by her PR firm. She says she reported the relationship to managers and she was moved to another account
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after it reached the severance package, claiming it never gave directors a complete picture of its relationships with employees.
McDonald’s sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after it reached the severance package, claiming it never gave directors a complete picture of its relationships with employees.
It is said that an anonymous tip after the abolition of Easterbrook led to the discovery of dozens of nude or sexually explicit photos of women, including three employees, who sent Easterbrook from his company account to his personal email account.
McDonald’s said Easterbrook removed the emails shortly before its eviction, but it remains on a server of the company.
“This active concealment makes it at least quite conceivable that the company had no way of knowing the full extent of Easterbrook’s misconduct,” Slights wrote.