Franchising

McDonald's Black franchisee: 'Only time McDonald's does anything for Black folk is when they're forced to'

Former pro baseball player and 40-year McDonald's franchisee, Herb Washington, came out swinging at McDonald's Tuesday, first filing suit against the chain for allegedly racially discriminating against him as a black owner and also retaliating against him for speaking out about such alleged treatment.

Photo: iStock

February 16, 2021

McDonald's franchisee Herb Washington. (Photo provided by law firm)

In a virtual news conference called by Washington and his attorneys from Washington, D.C.-based Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway, the 69-year-old restaurateur spoke in vivid terms about his career as an operator with the Chicago-based chain. He said the company has always played a game of racial favorites, where Black operators were presented less profitable business ownership opportunities with the company than white franchisees.

In the suit, filed in Youngstown, Ohio, Washington alleges McDonald's pushed Black franchisees into the least desirable locations and withheld operational advantages provided to white store owners. But unlike previous suits filed last year by former Black franchisees of the chain, alleging much of the same treatment, Washington also claimed in his suit that McDonald's has retaliated against him for speaking out by working to" systematically dismantle his business," which at one time included 27 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Washington said during the press conference that McDonald's allegedly forced him into selling seven stores in the past three years to white owners. He said he now owns 14 stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"This is (a) day I hoped would never have to happen," Washington started out at Tuesday's press briefing.

He went on to say after four decades with the system, he continued to that "believe McDonald's was going to do the right thing" by fixing alleged disparities between the terms of Black franchisee ownership and those of white franchisees. But he said he has come to realize that isn't likely to happen without the chain being forced into true racial parity.

"I believed … however, the culture at McDonald's has not changed. They don't listen. The only time McDonald's does anything for black folk is when they're forced to. Like Maya Angelou said, When they show you who they are the first time, believe them," Washington said paraphrasing Angelou's words that first were spoken as "When people show you who they are believe them (the first time). ...

"The arches are in full-scale retaliation mode against me," he went on to say, detailing the loss of seven stores in three years. "But that wasn't enough. … Now McDonald's is coming for the rest of my stores. But I will no longer give up my seat on the bus. … I've always been a competitor. … I've had focus -- the will to survive and thrive."

McDonald's did not respond to QSRweb's request for response but gave a comment to the Associated Press, claiming that Washington had been "facing business challenges" and that McDonald's had "invested significantly" in Washington's "organization."

In response, Washington said, "When confronted with their own racism, McDonald's attacks the Black man for allegedly having 'dirty stores.' How could I be an owner for 40 years if that were true? Rather than addressing my allegations, McDonald's follows its racist playbook of retaliation."

During the news conference, Washington said, "most Black owners leave the (McDonald's) system broke" attributing those losses to what he called a two-tier system, that relegates Blacks to the worst business opportunities. But he maintained that he has and continues to succeed with his locations, despite the odds.

"It took every ounce of me to succeed against insurmountable odds. …" he said during the conference. "No matter how good you are, it ain't good enough if you're skin looks like mine."

Attorneys at the news conference with Washington said that on average, Black McDonald's franchisees take in about $700,000 less in annual sales per store than white owners. The team asserted that Washington's case furthers the interests of every Black business owner nationally, who has faced some kind of systemic issues that prevent them from equal opportunity with their white counterparts.

"If a Black business leader like Herb Washington can be silenced for speaking up against racial discrimination by a major U.S. corporation, then what Black businessperson is safe?" Joseph Peiffer, managing partner, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway, asked. "McDonald's acknowledged its discriminatory racial-steering policy decades ago and promised to ensure parity for its Black franchisees, but then failed to do so. If anything, it's even worse today for Herb Washington and other Black store owners. In 1998, there were 377 Black franchisees in the McDonald's system. Now there are 186. These numbers lay bare McDonald's intentionally racist policies and practices toward Black franchisees."

One additional reason that Washington said he was fighting back was that since he began speaking out against McDonald's alleged racial inequity, his own son had lost the opportunity to own stores with the chain. Washington alleges that corporate retaliation denies him his legacy, saying that his son completed training with the company as a prerequisite to ownership successfully, but following Washington's first acts speaking out against the company's conduct, he said McDonald's refused to allow his son to go on to store ownership.