EX-CEO BARES HIS BEEF
Rips back at McD’s
McDonald’s former CEO Steve Easterbrook has fired back at the fast-food giant’s allegations that he lied about his habit of sexting with multiple employees, claiming the company should have known about the issue when it gave him a fat severance package last year.
In a complaint filed last week, McDonald’s claimed Easterbrook (inset) had sexual relationships with three underlings that the company hadn’t known about amid negotiations for a package worth a reported $42 million over an inappropriate relationship. The filing alleges Easterbrook
“lied” and “concealed evidence” about the affairs.
The evidence in- cludes dozens of naked or explicit photos and videos of women — some of them Easterbrook’s subordinates at McDonald’s — that he allegedly sent in attachments to his personal e-mail account from his work account.
In a Friday court filing, Easterbrook countered that his former employer should have been aware of the steamy e-mails, noting they had remained on the company’s server despite being deleted from his cellphone.
“McDonald’s — a sophisticated entity represented by numerous internal and external experts when it entered into the separation agreement — is aware it cannot credibly allege a breach of contract claim,” according to Easterbrook’s filing. “Instead, it improperly seeks to manufacture claims for a breach of fiduciary duty or fraud.”
The smutty e-mail attachments were revealed to McDonald’s by a tipster in July, the company’s complaint says.
The McDonald’s complaint also takes issue with “an extraordinary stock grant, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,” for one of the employees with whom Easterbrook was romantically involved.
Easterbrook counters that the board of directors approved the stock award, and also says that the complaint is filed in the wrong court. McDonald’s filed its complaint in Delaware Chancery Court but his separation deal requires any related litigation to be filed in Illinois, according to Easterbrook’s lawyers.
“McDonald’s stands by its complaint, both the factual assertions and the court in which it was filed,” a company spokesperson said.
Easterbrook was named CEO in 2015 and was credited with turning around the company’s sagging sales, partly by introducing all-day breakfasts. Meanwhile, however, a “party culture flourished among senior managers” on Easterbrook’s watch, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The former CEO frequently socialized at Chicago bars and sporting events with employees, and flirted with some female employees,” according to the paper, which cited anonymous sources.
He was fired in November.