McDonald's obtains voluntary dismissal from employee of McDonald's franchisee alleging discrimination and retaliation

Client(s) McDonald's Corporation

Jones Day secured the voluntary dismissal with prejudice of all claims against McDonald's Corporation in a lawsuit filed by a former mid-manager of a McDonald's franchisee, who alleged that both the franchisee and McDonald's, as joint employers, discriminated and retaliated against him in violation of Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, and Pennsylvania common law. Despite suing McDonald's based on the theory that McDonald's was his "joint employer," plaintiff later admitted that McDonald's did not participate in any alleged acts of discrimination or retaliation and discovery revealed that the franchisee alone hired plaintiff, set his work assignments, determined his wages, bonuses, and benefits, decided to promote him, established the work rules applicable to him, and supervised and reviewed his performance, and that the franchisee and McDonald's had separate owners, officers, directors, and management. At the close of discovery, Jones Day filed two separate motions for summary judgment on McDonald's behalf, the first arguing that McDonald's was not plaintiff's joint employer under any of the statutory schemes at issue and thus could not be held liable even if plaintiff's underlying claims were meritorious. The second argued that all of plaintiff's causes of action failed on the merits. After reviewing McDonald's summary judgment papers, plaintiff agreed to voluntarily dismiss McDonald's from the litigation with prejudice.

Colca v. McDonald's Corporation, et al., Case 5:14-cv-02981 (E.D. Pa)