Former McDonald’s boss fined £330k over scandal

FORMER McDonald’s boss Steve Easter- brook has been fined £330,000 and barred from being a director for five years by US regulators over a scandal that has already cost him his job and a generous pay-off.

Watford-born Easterbrook was fired in 2019 for having an ‘inappropriate’ relationship with an employee of the fast food giant, and handed a lucrative severance package.

But McDonald’s later sued him after discovering other relationships with employees which he had not disclosed and Easterbrook ( pictured) agreed to repay £78m.

In a further setback, the 55-yearold was yesterday charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with ‘making false and misleading statements to investors about the circumstances leading to his termination’.

The SEC said that without formally admitting or denying its findings, Easterbrook agreed to a five-year director ban and £330,000 penalty.

Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said: ‘When corporate officers corrupt internal processes to manage their personal reputations or line their own pockets, they breach their fundamental duties to shareholders, who are entitled to transparency and fair dealing from executives.

‘By allegedly concealing the extent of his misconduct during the company’s internal investigation, Easterbrook broke that trust with – and ultimately misled – shareholders.’

McDonald’s was also charged by the SEC over ‘shortcomings in its public disclosures related to Easterbrook’s separation agreement’. It did not impose a separate fine on the company.