Pa. family suing McDonald’s after manager accused of raping female employee, 14

“You couldn’t have done a background check? Two seconds, I get on Megan’s List and see this guy.”

Those are the harsh words for McDonald’s and a Pa. franchise owner from the attorney for a family suing the fast food company after a manager at a Pa. store allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old female employee.

The incident happened at a McDonald’s in Bethal Park, Pa., where KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh reports the manager, Walter A. Garner, was a convicted juvenile sex offender before hiring him to supervise young girls.

This is the focus of a lawsuit in Allegheny County saying the fast-food giant and the store’s independent owner knew — or should have known.

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Background from KDKA:

Garner had a 2003 conviction of indecently assaulting a 10-year-old girl — a crime posted on Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law website.

Bethel Park Police investigated and arrested Garner after the 15-year-old victim made a complaint to the resource officer at her school. She told police that Garner showed her a picture of a naked girl, a friend and fellow co-worker who turned out to be the 14-year-old girl Garner is now accused of raping.

The McDonald’s in Bethel Park is one of 8 owned and operated by Rice Enterprises, a limited liability corporation with a house in Upper St. Clair listed as its operating address. In a statement to KDKA on Tuesday, owner-operator Michelle Rice of Upper St. Clair said she took swift action:

“The allegations made in the lawsuit are deeply disturbing — my organization has no tolerance for sexual harassment, and we terminated the employee in question as soon as we learned about a complaint against him. … We have offered our full support to the impacted employee and are fully cooperating with the police investigation.”

However, the family’s attorney Alan Perer tells KDKA he’s heard from several more young female employees who said they made repeated complaints about Garner to the store’s management before the incidents to his client occurred.

Garner is already facing close to a dozen charges in the case, but police say they want to talk with any other victims and the investigation is continuing, KDKA reports.

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