By Lauraann Wood

Law360 (June 15, 2020, 10:10 PM EDT ) Current and former managers of Chicago McDonald's restaurants testified Monday that they'd provided their crews with both consistent training and storewide signage to help keep employees informed and protected as they work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

General Manager Aurora Huerta and Paul Harris, until recently an area supervisor, testified that employees at their respective locations had several signs and training meetings reminding them to maintain a proper distance, frequently wash their hands and take other steps to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Their testimony came during the third day of a preliminary injunction hearing over whether McDonald's Corp. and certain franchisees should be ordered to provide their workers with more adequate coronavirus information and protection.

Employees can see signs posted at least 6 feet apart from one another indicating where to stand and how to move to maintain a safe distance from other coworkers, the managers testified. They also said they've given crew members safety reminders and updates related to fighting COVID-19, and required signatures from workers certifying they've received the training.  

Huerta, one of plaintiff Sujey Figueroa's managers, disagreed with Figueroa's claim that she hadn't received any training or information regarding coronavirus protection at work. Huerta said she has held a crew huddle involving Figueroa and other employees, and that she consistently reminds workers to keep a safe distance with one another.

"It's constant coaching. We've got to keep coaching on social distancing because ... whether they're trying to support each other or what, they'll try to get closer," she testified via livestream. "We've got to remind them, just like we remind them about a lot of other things, so it's just continuous coaching, training, communicating and reiterating."

Huerta said her location also has a system in place where a buzzer sounds every hour to remind employees to wash their hands. Shift managers can't turn the buzzer off until every employee has completed the task, she said. Employees are also provided with masks whenever they ask for one, and have received training on how to properly wear them, Harris and Huerta testified.

"Of course, if something happens to the masks ... we will supply them with another mask," Huerta said. "There's no limits. If they need it, we're going to give it to them."

Cook County Circuit Judge Eve Reilly also heard testimony Monday from William Garrett, a McDonald's senior vice president who oversees the company's U.S. operations. Garrett testified that COVID-19 safety signs are required to be posted in all McDonald's-owned locations, and are the products of ongoing meetings of a crisis response group he's led regarding the company's fight against the pandemic in the U.S.

Franchise owners have access to the same safety guidance materials as the corporate locations, Garrett testified. They're free to use different signage if they'd like, but they're required to follow requirements on hand washing, mask wearing and social distancing protocols, he said.

The proceeding ended Monday following Huerta's direct examination by McDonald's counsel and is set to resume Tuesday.

Five McDonald's employees launched a proposed class action in May claiming their employers mismanaged safety protocols in four Chicago restaurants, causing unsafe conditions and a "public nuisance" that could endanger public health. Preliminary injunction proceedings began the day after Judge Reilly rejected McDonald's argument that governmental agencies, including the state and local departments of health, had primary jurisdiction to hear the workers' claims.

The lawsuit claims the proposed class has experienced unsafe practices that include being forced to work in close quarters with colleagues and customers who might be asymptomatic carriers, having to reuse dirty masks or gloves — if they were provided with such protective gear at all — and being directed to stay mum if workers were absent or suspected of being sick.

Besides a lack of safety equipment, the workers claimed the stores where they work didn't provide hand sanitizer and didn't offer safety training to employees. In some instances, workers were accused of stealing gloves if they asked for new ones, according to the suit.

McDonald's has said the allegations are inaccurate and not representative of what's really happening at its 14,000 nationwide locations. The company has defended its response to the pandemic, saying it's distributed more than 100 million masks to workers and set forth standards that require specific safety measures and protective equipment at its restaurants.

The workers are represented by David P. Dean, Daniel M. Rosenthal, Ryan E. Griffin and Michael P. Ellement of James & Hoffman PC, and Barry M. Bennett, Stephen A. Yokich and Elizabeth L. Rowe of Dowd Bloch Bennett Cervone Auerbach & Yokich.

McDonald's is represented by Jonathan Bunge and Daniel Lombard of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

The case is Massey et al. v. McDonald's Corp. et al., case number 2020-CH-04247, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

--Editing by Breda Lund.

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