Up against a Monday deadline, Trump’s appointee for general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board negotiated a settlement in a lawsuit between two dozen workers and McDonald’s, Reuters reported. The settlement means McDonald’s will avoid a verdict that could have dramatically shifted the relationship between workers and franchise restaurant chains.
Workers filed the case against McDonald’s in 2014, alleging that they had been retaliated against or fired after they participated in protests associated with the Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage. The judge would have ruled on the question of whether McDonald’s is a “joint employer” of its workers alongside franchise owners. A decision in the workers’ favor would have made the parent company liable for the labor violations of its franchisees and required McDonald’s to bargain with workers at its franchise operations who chose to unionize.
In January, the judge in the case agreed to halt trial proceedings just days before the trial’s conclusion so that Trump’s appointee, Peter B. Robb, could pursue settlement negotiations. The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.