McDonald’s Lawsuit Accuses Ex-CEO of Hiding Relationships With Employees

Former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has been accused of lying about having sexual relationships with subordinates and sending himself “dozens” of explicit photos of various women using a work email account.

A new lawsuit, per the New York Times, states that the company received an anonymous tip last month alleging that the former CEO had indeed had a sexual relationship with another employee, prompting a fresh investigation. Following a search of Easterbrook’s emails, the company discovered “dozens of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photographs and videos of various women, including photographs of these company employees, that Easterbrook had sent as attachments to messages from his company email account to his personal email account.”

Depending on your tolerance level for CEO-related news bits, you may or may not recall that McDonald’s had previously fired Easterbrook for what was then believed to be “sexting with a subordinate.” At the time, Easterbrook had issued an apology and claimed that he had “never engaged” in a physical sexual relationship with an employee.

Now, per the new lawsuit, Easterbrook is accused of lying, fraud, and hiding evidence. More specifically, he is alleged to have engaged in sexual relationships with three employees in the year preceding his firing. In one instance, he an employee with whom he was involved a “lucrative” batch of shares. McDonald’s is now trying to get back stock options and related compensation that was given to Easterbrook last year, marking a haul that’s estimated to be worth more than $40 million.