McDonald's asks judge to toss out U.S. labor board's 'massive'' subpoena

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

BY DANIEL WIESSNER

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) has asked a U.S. judge to reject a subpoena from the National Labor Relations Board in its case claiming the company is a "joint employer" of franchise workers, saying the requests are unfair and costly.

In a filing in U.S. court in Manhattan on Monday, McDonald's said it had spent more than $1 million over the last few months producing over 160,000 pages of documents in response to the subpoena, even though the company says it will owe no more than about $50,000 if it is found liable for alleged labor violations at 29 franchises in five states.

While McDonald's is not facing a large payout to workers, the case is of critical importance to the fast food giant and other franchisors, since a finding of joint employment would force such companies to bargain with unions and could impact the very basis of the franchise model.

The NLRB's general counsel, which is comparable to a prosecutor's office, is seeking emails and other documents from more than 50 McDonald's executives and employees who work directly with franchise owners.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-mcdonalds-labor-idUSKCN0SL2CJ20151027

[niyad]

1. oooooh, poooor, set-upon mickeyd's. having to produce paperwork. . . .

[SwankyXomb]

8. They have better uses for that paper

What do you think's in the burger?

[niyad]

10. I would be afraid to find out. have not eaten one of theirs in years.

[cstanleytech]

2. I think the NLRB made the right ruling considering how joined at the hip the corporation is to the

franchise owners in this case and it doesnt mean it will apply to every franchise as long as they are not overly involved in the operation of the franchises.

[mindwalker_i]

3. What, was it written on a friggin' anvil?

Does it react strongly with the Higgs field?

[jtuck004]

4. Call the judge, accept responsibility, offer a hundred thousand and attorney fees to settle.

And then go get breakfast at McDonald's. You can do that all day long now, I hear.

[d_legendary1]

5. So the million dollars for paperwork is just attorney's fees to hide their wrong doing

And they're asking a judge to throw out the suit? These guys have massive balls!

[PatrickforO]

6. Sounds like corporate bullshit to me...

Or am I wrong?

[Monk06]

7. McDs to judge, "If we're willing to spend $1 M to fight a $50K lawsuit just think of how much

we are willing to pay you to drop it. "

[Sherman A1]

9. Tough

If the shoes were reversed they would have no qualms at all in the legal fees that any opponent had to pay to come up with documents in a case. It's the cost of doing business in this world, particularly when doing business may include doing wrong by the very workers who helped and help each day to build that business.