McDonald's CEO Fired Over Relationship With Employee, Easterbrook Admits It Was A 'Mistake'

Steve Easterbrook, the fast-food major McDonald's CEO has been fired by the board for allegedly violating the company policy by entering into a “consensual relationship with an employee.”

In a statement on Sunday, the fast-food company, said: “Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee.”

It added that Easterbrook who is also the President has “separated” from the company and Chris Kempczinski has been appointed to take over the dual roles with immediate effect.

Kempczinski, until recently president of McDonald's USA said “he is energized by this challenge” and will “guide McDonald's continued success.”

Prestige Vs privacy

The outgoing CEO, in an email to McDonald's employees expressed “regret” over the relationship.

“As for my departure, I engaged in a recent consensual relationship with an employee that violated McDonald's policy,” Easterbrook wrote.

While admitting that he erred, Easterbrook also noted that his stint as CEO has been one of the most fulfilling years of his working life. He said it is time to move on and expected the staff would “respect the desire to maintain my privacy.”

Joe Erlinger will be the new president of McDonald's USA.

Easterbrook is known for many modernization plans and reforms introduced in the company aiming to boost sales and the stock’s rise in the capital market.

Among the successful initiatives included the starting of fresh beef quarter pounders. It also refrained from fully joining the trend of offerings around plant-based proteins.

Mc Donald’s stock has zoomed since 2015. This is despite Easterbrook's leadership having tensions with franchisees who wanted many changes including a premium chicken sandwich on the menu.

The competitors of Mc Donald’s include KFC, Subway, Burger King, Domino's Pizza, Starbucks, Dunkin' Brands, Pizza Hut and Wendy's.

Easterbrook gave primacy to core menu offerings and ended craft sandwiches and late-night meals in a bid to enhance efficiency.

The changes could attract better traffic from digital-savvy millennials including Subway surfers who track the KFC menu, Pizza Hut coupons and latest in the Burger King menu.

Easterbrook was also a fellow at the Said Business School under Oxford University.

Allegations of sexual harassment

According to CBS News, McDonald's has battled a series of allegations relating to sexual harassment, earlier this year.

A workers’ union said in May that it heard 25 McDonald's employees reporting sexual harassment on the job. It said the complaints ranged from groping, request for sex, indecent exposure, and lewd comments by supervisors.