Record clawback of severance package by McDonald’s from former CEO Steve Easterbrook; $105 million

Steve Easterbrook, the former CEO of McDonald’s who was dismissed in November 2019 on charges of lies and misconduct with his company employees during his tenure of working at McDonald’s, had to return back his severance pay package.

McDonald officials have categorically stated on Thursday that they have reached a settlement with their former CEO Steve Easterbrook and have retrieved his employment severance package worth $105 million; they have also taken an apology over his actions for his inappropriate sexual harassment of his employees.

The severance which was retired from the cooperative Executive Steve Brook is one of the largest clawbacks in the history of the cooperate world; the company official stated if Steve Easterbrook had been truthful about his relationships with the company employees during the investigation conducted, his payments would have been withheld at the same time if he had told the truth.

Enrique Hernandez, JR, the Chairman of McDonald, stated that Steve Easterbrook was clearly accountable for his misconduct and exploiting the women employees during his position as CEO. This settlement and resolution have allowed the firm to move forward without any court processes involved; this case was on the US high-profile scandals since the #MeToo wave began in the year 2017.

The officials from McDonald ave discovered that Easterbrook had destroyed all documents, which revealed his inappropriate relationships with company employees, especially women; during his tenure with McDonald, it was also found that the former CEO had handed out 100s of 1000s dollars worth of stock to one of such employees.

In the apology statement provided by Easterbrook, he has apologised through his former coworker and company’s franchises and suppliers, also the company board, as during his tenure, he had failed to uphold the values of McDonald’s and fulfil his responsibilities as a leader of the company.

During the course of the investigation, dozens of nude and sexually explicit photos plus videos of various women were found in his documents. Easterbrook had taken these photographs in the late 2018 and early 2019 period of his tenure with McDonald’s. He used to attach these messages from his work email account and send them to his personal email account.

Steve Easterbrook had joined McDonald’s as a CEO in the year March 2015; he had increased the sales of the company. Easterbrook’s severance agreement included six months severance pay with stock options, he was paid a basic pay of $1.3 million and his total compensation when calculated with bonus and stock options reached a total of $15.9 million per month.