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Trans McDonald's Employee Told To Use Broom Closet Instead Of Women's Bathroom

La’Ray Reed also claims she was groped by co-workers and asked if she had a penis.

A former McDonald's employee is suing the fast-food giant, claiming she was sexually harassed and discriminated against because she is a transgender woman.

In court papers, La'Ray Reed said she was spied on by management while using the women's room. She was then barred from using the restaurant's public restrooms and forced to a dirty unused bathroom in the in the rear of the eatery that had long been used as a broom closet.

Reed also claims she was called "boy slash girl" and groped by coworkers during her six-month tenure at a McDonald's in Redford, Michigan, in 2015.

Facebook/Fight for $15

The suit alleges that Reed's manager asked whether she had a penis and encouraged other employees to assault her, announcing over his headset, "You can't feel it from the front, you have to feel it from the back," At which point another coworker grabbed her genitals from behind.

“I am transgender, but I have never dealt with anything like that, especially in the work field,” Reed said in a Facebook video. "You know, of course you get hate from people on the street, but never in a job place."

The worker's rights group, Fight for $15, is supporting Reed's legal battle. Fight for $15 claims her lawsuit, along with a number of other complaints filed by current and former McDonald's employees, points to a widespread pattern of sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse against gay and trans workers.

Last year, Andrew McConnell filed a lawsuit claiming he was called a "faggot" by his managers at a McDonald's in Kansas City, and that a manager refused to find a first-aid kit saying, “You are gay and you might have HIV.”

Floridian Westley Williams sued the company last year, claiming he received frequent homophobic comments, including his manager telling him "you like dick." And in Wisconsin one woman filed an EEOC complaint against McDonald's, stating her managers harassed her about having a girlfriend, telling her she “just hadn’t had the right dick yet."

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DES PLAINES, IL - FEBRUARY 15: French fries sit on a table at a McDonald's restaurant February 15, 2006 in Des Plaines, Illinois. McDonald's announced February 13 that their french fries contain potential allergens from both wheat and dairy ingredients used to add flavor. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

For it's part McDonald's has always maintained it can't be held liable for how individual franchises treat employees. Reed's suit names both the franchise owners and the McDonald's Corporation as defendants, in an attempt to set a precedent for holding the parent company responsible.

McDonald's recently unveiled rainbow-colored french fry boxes for Pride month, and posted signs in select locations that read "Lovin' is lovin'."

"McDonald’s can’t pinkwash its record of harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ workers with a fry box and a parade float,” Pride at Work executive director Jerame Davis said in a statement. “It will take a real commitment to equality and better treatment for its workers to address the horrific allegations in these complaints.”

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