McDonald’s Franchisee to Employees: Vote Republican or Else

The owner of a chain of McDonald’s restaurants in Ohio sent a letter to his employees about the upcoming elections. The letter accompanied employee paychecks and said that employee wages could only be raised “if the right people” were elected. If others were elected, “we will not” raise wages. The letter encouraged employees to vote for Republican candidates in the Governor’s race, the U.S. Senate race, and a congressional district race. Then the walls of legal hell collapsed on the franchise owner.

As in most states, there is an Ohio statute that prevents employers from subjecting employees to intimidation or threats regarding their wages and benefits if they don’t vote like the employers wants them to. The McDonald’s franchisee was immediately threatened with a lawsuit by a lawyer representing Democrats and was informed by the Ohio Secretary of State that the letter in question would be included in the department’s investigation of voter intimidation by employers.

After talking with his own lawyer, the McDonald’s franchise owner had a change of heart. He apologized for the letter and said he didn’t know about the Ohio statute he is alleged of violating. Saying the letter was an error in judgment on his part, the franchisee said he was just trying to protect his business and meant no interference with employee voting. A McDonald’s spokesman asserted that the company knew nothing about the letter and that, in any event, it was a violation of company policy.

So on the eve of the midterm elections, employers are provided a lesson from McDonald’s or one of its franchisees. Don’t tell your employees how to vote or condition compensation on the way they vote. Of course, an employer will never know how its employees voted, but just making a threat or offering too much encouragement  is a violation of the law in most states.