Brit McDonald’s boss fired for ‘inappropriate physical contact with a colleague at Christmas party’
A SECOND British McDonald’s exec was fired for “inappropriate physical contact” with a co-worker at a Christmas party, it has been alleged.
HR boss David Fairhurst, 51, appointed to his post by sex scandal CEO Steve Easterbrook, is claimed to have made the “contact” at a boozy bash in 2018.
An employee complained and McDonald’s has now admitted Fairhurst was fired because of “conduct inconsistent with company policies and values”.
The revelations came after Fairhurst mysteriously left McDonald’s with Easterbrook last year.
Watford-born Easterbrook, 53, is being sued by McDonald’s for allegedly lying about relationships with three employees.
The chain is attempting to claw-back his £30million exit package – but he has claimed the lawsuit is "meritless and misleading".
According to court papers, a probe by McDonald’s found three relationships he kept secret.
Investigators also found dozens of nude snaps of women allegedly sent from his company email account.
Fairhurst, originally from Hertfordshire but now living in Chicago, was appointed global chief people officer at McDonald’s months after Easterbrook became CEO in 2015.
McDonald’s – the world's largest fast food chain with 39,000 locations in 100 countries – says the two departures were not connected.
Divorced Easterbrook — dubbed “the wonder from Watford” for his work transforming McDonald’s — was sacked last year for a consensual relationship with an employee.
Court documents reveal he had wooed the unnamed woman with sexually explicit text messages, photographs and video calls.
At the time, Easterbrook claimed the relationship was the “only one of an intimate nature he had ever had with a McDonald’s employee”.
The court filing states: “He asserted that he had never engaged in a physical sexual relationship with any McDonald’s employee.”
The fast food giant forbids relationships between staff and subordinates.
He was let go last November with an estimated £30million in compensation, shares and stock options.
McDonald's conducted a second probe and found he had sexual relationships with three other women, despite denying any more affairs to a team of investigators.
Fairhurst did not respond to requests for comment.
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