After a brief illness in July of 1997 Russell Rich, a 20 year managerial McDonald’s veteran, was forced by McDonald's as a condition for continued employment to give them complete access to my medical records. After discovering he had AIDS, McDonald's made his life a living hell and in October of 1997. He was constructively discharged.
Once he got over the shame of being fired and being fired due to AIDS, he hired an attorney and filed a lawsuit in October of 1998. In October of 2001 a unanimous jury found McDonald's guilty of discrimination and ordered them to pay 5 million dollars in damages.
McDonald's has yet to pay a penny.
Between the time of termination and the time of trial, he suffered 4 life threatening illnesses because he could not get life sustaining medications. Between the time McDonald's found out he had AIDS and the time of termination McDonald's took away his health care insurance even though they were still deducting it from his biweekly pay. They also deducted money for a $109,000.00 life insurance policy which prior to trial they found out they never took out a policy in his name.
Through delays and appeals McDonald's has now dragged this ordeal out to 7 years. Because of an error that occurred with the trial judge, McDonald's has been granted a new trial. The evidence or merits of the case have never been in question. McDonald's hoped to outlive Russell.
