Make McDonald's Owner Pay for Intimidating Employees' Votes

[Joanne98]

Here is the contact information for the franchise, including the phone number, in case you want to tell Mr. Siegfried exactly that and give him an earfull - or if you live in Canton, Ohio, even stage a protest:


Mcdonald's
Franchise Owner: Paul Siegfried (Siegfried Enterprises)
5239 Fulton Drive NW
Canton, OH 44718-1805
Phone: [phone]As Think Progress (which obtained the letter via an attorney investigating the matter) points out, this is of course against Ohio election law. Quoting the Ohio Revised Code on Elections,

No employer or his agent or a corporation shall print or authorize to be printed upon any pay envelopes any statements intended or calculated to influence the political action of his or its employees; or post or exhibit in the establishment or anywhere in or about the establishment any posters, placards, or hand bills containing any threat, notice, or information that if any particular candidate is elected or defeated work in the establishment will cease in whole or in part, or other threats expressed or implied, intended to influence the political opinions or votes of his or its employees.Adam Serwer at the American Prospect reports that Mr. Siegfried's actions may have violated federal law as well, although it will evolve on the interpretation of the effects of the letter.

Siegfried's problems may be bigger than Ohio, however. Gerald Hebert, a former Acting Chief of the Voting Section of the Justice Department now with the Campaign Legal Center, said that it's possible Siegfried's actions may violate federal law.

"Intimidating voters through physical or economic threats in connection with their registering to vote or voting in federal elections is a federal offense," Hebert says. "The questions presented by the McDonald's memo is whether he is telling employees they could lose benefits or their jobs if they don’t vote for the Republican candidates and whether they felt coerced by it."I certainly believe the employees were threatened and felt coerced by it. So much so that one of them felt it necessary to contact an attorney about it, which, I might add, was quite a courageous thing to do, and we all owe that employee a special gratitude for giving our democracy a fighting chance.

What Mr. Siegfried did is unacceptable, and a half-baked apology is not nearly enough. He needs to atone, issue an apology to his employees and his customers, and feature campaign literature on the Democratic candidates as well (without taking sides, to provide information to his employees about the actual choices), as a way to make up for his voter intimidation, and he needs to pay the legal consequences. Until he does so, he needs to hear from us for the need to do so.

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2010/10/make-mcdonalds-owner-pay-for.html

[HopeHoops]

1. I'm sure Mayor McCheese would disapprove of these actions.

What an asshole.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. To hell with trying to shame that fucker!

Contact McD's headquarters! Even though he's a franchisee, corporate offices don't want someone representing their brand in a manner that draws negative attention. This shithead is beyond hope, and unless he notices a precipitous drop in revenue (unlikely - given the limited exposure of this story, people who don't give a shit, people who are addicted to McD's chemical-laden foodlike products, and repugs who think this is a fine thing), he's not going to be shamed into decent behavior. Bring pressure to bear from above!

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Take it up with corporate.

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/contact_us.html

[WCGreen]

4. The kids should sue on the grounds that the owner of the MacDonald's

is linking raises to outside events.