Teen Walks Off Job After McDonald's Manager Allegedly Uses Slur To Describe Sisters
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MONACA (KDKA) - A teenager walked off the job in Monaca after he says his boss used a "slur" to describe his little sisters.
The two girls live with Dravet syndrome, which is a rare form of epilepsy that still does not have a cure.
The entire allegation centers around a McDonald's restaurant in Monaca.
The teen's mother posted about the situation on Facebook and that post has been shared nearly 1,000 times.
"[My kids] love McDonald's. Every time we drive by the golden arches, my daughter, Leah, sniffs them out from a mile away. She knows where they are all located and she'll say, 'Eat, eat,' and point at the McDonald's arches as soon as we go by them," John McGurk said.
However, McGurk said he and his family will no longer eat at the chain out of principle.
"She doesn't understand why we can't take her and it's sad, it really is," he said.
Dravet syndrome is a regressive syndrome that leaves the teens, ages 13 and 18, with the mental capacity of 2- and 4-year-old.
McGurk's teenage son worked at the Monaca McDonald's until he says the boss used a slur to describe his two sisters.
"One of his coworkers dropped an egg on the ground and as teens will often do, they all started laughing and joking about it - what a clumsy move it was - and then, the manager on shift that night, Jen, came in and started yelling at the employees and then said to my son, 'How would you like it if someone laughed at your retarded sisters?'" McGurk said.
McGurk said his son asked the manager to not use that word, but she allegedly persisted.
Tri County Management owns the restaurant and six others across Beaver County.
McGurk said when his wife took to social media, the phone rang.
"We received a phone call from the director of operations for Tri County Management, his name is Andy. Andy asked my wife to take down the Facebook post because he said Jen had been receiving threats due to the overwhelming response to the Facebook post. My wife declined because he had been very aggressive with her on the telephone," McGurk said.
McGurk's son, Chandler, walked off the job that day and never went back.
KDKA-TV's Meghan Schiller reached out to McDonald's for their side of the story.
The restaurant's owner, Paul Sweeney, sent a statement, which said:
"After looking into this situation, we are unable to substantiate these claims. As many Beaver County residents know, we have a long history of supporting and employing people with disabilities in my McDonald's restaurants. We will continue to champion people with disabilities."
