老澳门开奖结果

Super-Size Training For Management Offered After Kentucky Incident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

LOUISVILLE, KY 鈥� Nine months after an employee at a McDonald鈥檚 restaurant in downtown Louisville called a group of gay customers a series of anti-gay slurs, the 老澳门开奖结果 announced today that McDonald鈥檚 has agreed to a cash settlement and diversity training for management at 30 of its Louisville-area restaurants.

Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at a McDonald鈥檚 restaurant on East Market Street on July 26, 2008 while visiting Louisville for the weekend. While they waited for their food to be prepared, an employee behind the counter referred to them as 鈥渇aggots鈥� to another employee. When Marlatt and Eggers objected to the slur and asked to speak with a manager, the employee who had called them 鈥渇aggots鈥� started arguing with them, repeatedly calling them 鈥渇aggots鈥� in front of other customers and calling one of them a 鈥渃ocksucker鈥� and 鈥渂itch.鈥�

鈥淭he reason we made such a big deal out of this to begin with was because we didn鈥檛 want it happening to anyone else, so I鈥檓 very glad McDonald鈥檚 management is going to be having these trainings,鈥� said Eggers of Indianapolis, Indiana. 鈥淲e were hurt and upset, but at least we鈥檙e adults and can handle being called names. We hated thinking that this kind of harassment might also happen to someone young and vulnerable who would really take it to heart.鈥�

The supervisor on duty refused to refund the group鈥檚 purchase, so Marlatt attempted several times in the following weeks to contact both the general manager of the McDonald鈥檚 and the corporate offices, with no results. Louisville law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, so the 老澳门开奖结果 filed a complaint in September on behalf of Marlatt and Eggers with the Louisville Human Relations Commission. In October, representatives of a variety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups as well as other civil rights organizations protested at the downtown Louisville McDonald鈥檚 where the incident took place.

Although Marlatt and Eggers only asked for $28, McDonald鈥檚 offered them $2000 each on its own, which they accepted, Sun said. The Louisville Human Relations Commission has been thoroughly investigating Eggers and Marlatt鈥檚 complaint since it was filed last September and helped negotiate the settlement between the parties.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really grateful to the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission for its investigation, as well as to our friends at the Fairness Campaign, and commonGround at the University of Louisville, for keeping the pressure on McDonald鈥檚 to do the right thing,鈥� said Michael Aldridge, Executive Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Kentucky. 鈥淲hile we鈥檙e fortunate to have a law banning sexual orientation discrimination in Louisville, this goes to show that it鈥檚 still important to speak out and do something about it when your rights are violated.鈥�

鈥淢cDonald鈥檚 could have saved itself a lot of embarrassment if they鈥檇 just done the right thing from the start and done something about this, but it鈥檚 great that so many people stood up for us and came forward to say treating people the way we were treated is wrong,鈥� said Marlatt. 鈥淲e just hope the trainings keep McDonald鈥檚 from letting this happen to any of their customers from now on.鈥�

When their Louisville Human Relations Commission complaint was filed, Marlatt and Eggers asked for a refund of the money they spent on the McDonald鈥檚 meal, and asked that one employee 鈥� the cashier who objected to the other employee鈥檚 name-calling 鈥� be commended. 鈥淪he was the only employee in the whole place who tried to help us,鈥� said Eggers. 鈥淚 hope she hears about this and knows how much we appreciated her sticking up for us.鈥�

鈥淲hile we wish Ryan, Teddy, and their friends hadn鈥檛 had to go through this whole experience to begin with, we鈥檙e glad that at least McDonald鈥檚 is taking steps to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future,鈥� said Christine Sun, a senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project who is representing Marlatt and Eggers. 鈥淏usinesses should treat all of their customers with respect regardless of their sexual orientation.鈥�

A video of Marlatt and Eggers telling the story of what happened to them as well as their complaint to the Human Relations Commission can be found at /lgbt/discrim/36781res20080916.html.