Catherwood LibraryILR School

Opening arguments were heated as the hotly anticipated case brought by the National Labor Relations Board against McDonald’s began today in New York. The closely watched case will determine whether franchise owners can be considered “joint employers” and thus liable for labor violations incurred by franchisees. The NLRB argued today that McDonald’s has substantial control over work policies that are very “fine-grained and specific”, and which tightly govern the lives of employees at its franchises. In rebuttal, lawyers for McDonald’s contended that everything the chain does is to maintain brand image, which a franchisor is allowed to do without becoming a joint employer. They also disputed the motivations for the NLRB in bringing up the case, arguing that the NLRB believes franchising to “be a bad business model for union organizing”, that a major incentive for franchisees to enter into business is to be their “own boss”, and that no court of law has ever found McDonald’s to be a joint employer. If the judge finds in favor of the NLRB, it would allow franchise employees to unionize and bargain directly with franchise ownership.