Plaintiffs Victoria Guster-Hines and Domineca Neal sued McDonald’s USA, LLC, McDonald’s Corporation, and several executives, alleging race discrimination and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Title VII. The dispute centers on the plaintiffs’ experiences during and after a 2018 corporate restructuring known as the “Field First Restructure,” which eliminated their positions as Vice President-General Management and Quality, Service, and Cleanliness Vice President.
Following the restructure, both plaintiffs were reassigned as Operations Officers at the Dallas Field Office. Guster-Hines, a 32-year veteran of the company, went on paid leave in December 2019 and voluntarily resigned in October 2021. Neal was terminated in February 2020 after an external investigation concluded she had created a toxic workplace environment.
U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland dismissed the plaintiffs’ disparate treatment claims, finding they failed to prove they were qualified for the higher-level positions they sought or that similarly situated non-Black employees were treated more favorably. The court also rejected their hostile work environment claims, noting insufficient evidence that specific incidents were motivated by race.
However, the court denied summary judgment on Neal’s retaliation claim against McDonald’s USA. Judge Rowland found a genuine dispute of fact regarding whether Neal’s termination was retaliatory for filing the lawsuit, citing the suspicious timing between the complaint filing and the initiation of the investigation that led to her firing.
Guster-Hines’s retaliation claim was dismissed because the court determined she did not suffer an adverse employment action. The judge found that her paid leave and subsequent resignation were voluntary decisions, not adverse actions taken by the employer in response to her protected activity.