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How does McDonald's deal with store owners accused of racism? Not like you'd hope.

If these allegations are true ... ugh. As if McDonald's wasn't disappointing enough.

A group of McDonald's employees are suing the company after being fired from their jobs.

The workers allegedly were told by the franchisee who owns the Virginia-based restaurant that, despite their being good workers, they "did not fit the profile" he was looking for.


"Profile?" Listen, buddy, your "restaurant" is a McDonald's.


As it happens, all of the fired workers are black.

They say the firings were racially motivated, citing multiple incidents of racially-charged insults (watch the video below for specifics) and the absence of any documented wrongdoing on their part as employees. Not only are they suing the franchisee, Soweva Co., but they also believe McDonald's national corporation should be held responsible. Time's Victor Luckerson writes:

"[The] lawsuit argues that McDonald's franchises are 'predominately controlled' by their corporate parent, as McDonald's sets national policies for restaurant operations, corporate representatives oversee franchises and the national company coordinates training for all managerial employees. "

In a statement regarding the lawsuit, McDonald's Corp. craftily avoids accountability with lots of fluffy corporate language about diversity but not a single word as to how they intend to address the matter:

"McDonald's has a long-standing history of embracing the diversity of employees, independent franchisees, customers and suppliers, and discrimination is completely inconsistent with our values. McDonald's and our independent owner-operators share a commitment to the well-being and fair treatment of all people who work in McDonald's restaurants."

There is no workplace in the United States where the mistreatment of workers based on race is acceptable.

And there's no amount of money — let alone the minimum wages these workers earned — that makes it OK.

We have yet to see what the court decides in this case, but if you want McDonald's to take affirmative action to ensure workplace equality, send them a letter and share this story with someone you think should know about it.

Watch the video:


Time travel back to 1905.

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A Reddit user named u/Frequent-Pilot5243 asked the online forum, “What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?” and there were a lot of profound answers that get to the heart of the disappointing side of being an adult.

One theme that ran through many responses is the feeling of being set adrift. When you’re a kid, the world is laid out as a series of accomplishments. You learn to walk, you figure out how to use the bathroom, you start school, you finish school, maybe you go to college, and so on.

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Listen to this organ in Croatia that uses the sea to make hauntingly beautiful music

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Matthew Inman is the Eisner Award-winning author of The Oatmeal. He's published six books, including New York Times Best-Sellers such as "How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You"and "The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances."He enjoys running marathons, writing comics, and eating cake.

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Sweeping UN study finds that 9 out of 10 people worldwide are biased against women

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Photo by Joe Gardner on Unsplash

As the U.S. ramps into an all-too-familiar presidential election cycle where the only viable candidates left on the ballot are men, the UN announces a study that may—at least partially—explain why.

The Gender Social Norms Index released yesterday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a look at gender equality as measured by people's personal gender bias. The data, which was collected from 75 countries covering 81% of the world's population, found that 91% of men and 86% of women show at least one clear bias against women in the areas of politics, economics, education, and physical integrity.

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