He’s not lovin’ it.
A McDonald’s franchisee claims the burger titan is trying to force him to sell his 37 locations because he failed to meet “national franchising standards” — and that one executive falsely accused him of planning to illegally hire migrants.
McDonald’s “is wrongfully scheming” to oust George Michell, and “to steal the value of his businesses from him,” he said in a Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit against Mickey D’s and three of its executives.
Michell runs seven franchises in Brooklyn, as well as others in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, which raked in more than $158 million in revenue in 2023.
Michell, who is Hispanic, was fined $1 million in November 2022 for violating workplace rules in New York City, but contends in court papers that other, white franchisees with similar fines have not faced the same pressure from McDonald’s.
He claims McDonald’s executives sat him down after his fine became public, told him they wanted him “out of the system,” and urged him to sell — or they would let his franchise agreements expire without renewal, according to the legal filing.
He contends he never suggested illegally hiring migrants, instead only answering a request from the company asking which owners would be interested in employing migrants when they were eligible.
Michell, who is seeking unspecified damages, claims in the litigation that his efforts to stay in the McDonald’s system “are being rebuffed.”
McDonald’s called the allegations “meritless” and said they “do not reflect McDonald’s commitment to empowering diversity of talent and ownership in our franchisee community.”
