Lawsuit claims McDonald's franchise fired employees because 'too many black people' worked there

Employees of three Virginia McDonald's locations have filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming a franchise owner wanted to "reduce the number of African-American employees."

Michael Simon, the new franchise owner in question, allegedly hired "a large number of white employees" last March, shortly before terminating 15 African-Americans, including the nine plaintiffs who fired the suit. The suit alleges that the terminated employees were informed that while they were "good workers," they "didn't fit the profile" of the company.

The suit isn't just against Simon, either — the plaintiffs claim that racial discrimination and sexual harassment were already prevalent before Simon showed up. Some of the alleged statements made by supervisors include saying that "there are too many black people in the store," calling African-American employees "ghetto" and "ratchet," and saying a Hispanic worker was a "dirty Mexican."

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The plaintiffs also claim that they called McDonald's Corporate, which "did nothing." Gawker reports that the lawsuit is backed by the NAACP chapter in South Boston, Virginia, as well as by organized labor groups.