McDonald’s seeks to get franchise subpoena thrown out

McDonald’s has asked a US judge to reject a subpoena from the National Labour Relations Board in its case claiming the company is a “joint employer” of franchise workers, saying the requests are unfair and costly.

In a filing in a US court in Manhattan yesterday, McDonald’s said it had spent over $1m (€906,000) in the last few months producing over 160,000 pages of documents in response to the subpoena, even though the company says it will owe no more than about $50,000 if it is found liable for alleged labour violations at 29 franchises in five states.

While McDonald’s is not facing a large payout to workers, the case is of critical importance to the fast food giant and other franchisors, since a finding of joint employment would force such companies to bargain with unions and could impact the very basis of the franchise model.