Corporate Responsibility Mondays.

Time to take out the maker of one of the best fast food dessert . . . the Hersey Pie . . . and it’s provider Burger King. And again . . . just to reiterate . . . I’m only highlighting companies that I use and am big fans of. This is an overflow of my own personal research for my purchases. I’m not just arbitrarily calling out companies I don’t like.

As always make sure to check out Ariah’s post where he highlights another company that is attempting to do a better job with the products and service that they offer. This week he’s bragging on Chipolte (courtesy of Eric’s recommendation).

TOXINS: “In August 2005 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against nine producers of potato chips and french fries concerning toxic contents in their popular foods. Lockyer is seeking a court order requiring the companies to warn consumers that some of their food products are made with acrylamide, a chemical identified by the state as a human carcinogen. Plaintiffs in the case include McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Frito Lay, H.J. Heinz, Proctor & Gamble and Wendy’s.”

WORKER RIGHTS: “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 511 current and former workers at about half of the 351 Burger Kings run by franchisee Carrols Corp. This is the biggest sexual harassment suit ever filed by the agency. Most of the alleged victims are girls or women. According to the suit female employees tell of managers or co-workers hugging and kissing them or fondling their breasts or buttocks. Some supervisors made suggestive or vulgar comments to female workers; others pressured them to have sex or go out on dates, according to court records. At least one co-worker allegedly exposed himself to a female employee. Sometimes, Carrols’ management fired or suspended offenders. In other cases, victims’ complaints to managers resulted in little or nothing being done.”

In another case . . . “In February 2005 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Burger King on behalf of a 16 year-old former employee who claimed she was fired after refusing the store manager’s repeated requests for sex. According to the lawsuit, the teenager started working at a Milwaukee Burger King in January 2003 and refused the store manager’s requests for sex. In September 2003, she was fired after making plans to complain about the harassment to some of the company’s managers who were scheduled to visit the restaurant, the lawsuit said. The manager who fired Merriweather is in his mid-30s and still works at the restaurant, Kamp said. ”

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: “In March 2005 Burger King agreed to pay civil penalties of $170,000, plus $35,000 in costs, to settle a lawsuit over an abandoned store in Sacramento County California. The suit alleged that the fast-food company illegally maintained the site of an abandoned drive-in and allowed it to become a blighted property. According to the suit Burger King destroyed the building in 2004 but left the site open and accessible and filled with solid waste and hazardous materials.”

HEALTH & SAFETY: “In February 2005 Burger King agreed to pay part of a $4 million settlement in a case where a former employee was burned severely when a grease filter exploded at a Burger King restaurant in West Seneca, NY. The woman, who now is 24, suffered burns, five surgeries and permanent scars after a grease machine exploded in 1997, spraying her with 350 degree oil According to her attorney the grease filter was defective, and the restaurant lacked proper training and operating procedures for the device, which exploded after an aerosol canister fell into the machine.”

Sources: Responsible Shopper, Consumer Affairs

[tags]Corporate Responsibility, Fast Food, Burger King, Responsible Shopper[/tags]