McDonald's McScrews Hero Employee Out of Needed Money

Posted by David Weiner, Huffington Post at 9:58 AM on February 23, 2009.

Eyebrows are raised as high as golden arches at the colossal cold-heartedness that McDonald's has shown in regards to the treatment of its employee, Nigel Haskett.

Last summer Haskett was working at a McDonald's in Little Rock, Arkansas when he jumped from his post to take down a man who was abusing a woman in the fast-food joint. As the two men tussled, Haskett was shot multiple times. His recovery has required several operations amounting to $300,000 in medical bills. A hero? Not according to Mickey D's.

No, instead the company is pushing to deny Haskett any worker's compensation that could go towards paying down his medical debt and moving on with his life.

According to the Arkansas Times,

Haskett filed a claim with the state Workers Compensation Commission. Misty Thompson, a claims specialist with McDonald's insurer, Ramsey, Krug, Farrell and Lensing, said in a letter to the Commission that "we have denied this claim in its entirety as it is our opinion that Mr. Haskett's injuries did not arise out of or within the course and scope of his employment."

I'll admit that I do understand the argument McDonald's is making: their employees are told not to play hero and that they should let the cops deal with any problems, so therefore Haskett should never have gotten involved in the first place. But Haskett denies that he was ever informed of this policy, and frankly, having seen how well-trained most fast food employees are, I'm gonna believe. And anyway, what kind of message does that send to your employees, let alone to the customers? "Come to McDonald's, We'll Always Turn A Blind Eye!"

Chances are McDonald's will be shamed by the press into playing nice with Haskett. That would be wonderful for him, I'm sure. But it's incidents like this that should be eye-opening to all Americans. Lately we've been asking people to do their part and pitch in, that we need to look out for each other no matter the personal cost. A 21-year-old kid heeded that call and nearly died in the process. Corporations, apparently, haven't gotten the message yet.

Tagged as: health, corporate greed, mcdonald's, haskett