ei: McResponse: Form letter sent out by McDonald's in response to EI's Action Items

Following a series of Action Items by the Electronic Intifada, beginning on 5 March 2005, McDonald's Corporation headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois has been sending out form letters to those who wrote to the company about the issue. The text follows.

Hello [correspondent name]:

Thank you for contacting McDonald's. We welcome the opportunity to share some information with you.

McDonald's values the diversity of all of our employees, and our restaurant employees in Israel are no exception. Regarding the recently fired employee, her employment was terminated for performance reasons by her supervisor, a Palestinian Arab who also speaks Arabic. No one has ever been let go for speaking his own language.

As the largest quick-service restaurant employer in Israel, McDonald's Israel is proud that about 20% of its employees are Israeli Arabs and another 20% are Russian immigrants. Israeli Arabs and Russian immigrants are also represented in the many levels of management. These numbers reflect the general population of Israel.

In order to best serve our customers, Hebrew is spoken when employees are conducting business. Our employees are free to speak on non-business related matters in whatever language they choose while on duty, including Arabic. They can also speak the preferred language of a customer, including Arabic.

Finally, it is important to know that McDonald's is the world's community restaurant. We are proud of our long-standing commitment to a workforce that is diverse. We believe in developing and maintaining a diverse workforce that will strengthen the McDonald's system.

We appreciate you taking the time to contact us to get the facts about this important issue.

[name of customer service representative]
McDonald's Customer Satisfaction Department

ref#:[deleted]

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you wish to contact McDonald's Corporation again, please visit our website.

Related Links

Action Item: McConfusion: McDonald's Israel reportedly backs down, while McDonald's HQ stonewalls (12 March 2004)