The Securities and Exchange Commission (aka SEC) has officially charged former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook on Monday with misrepresenting his November 2019 firing, according to CNBC.
Easterbrook has agreed to a $400,000 fine, without admitting or denying the claims, and he will be barred from serving as an officer or director for any SEC-reporting company for a duration of five years.
Easterbrook was fired from the company back in 2019 for a consensual relationship with an employee, which violated McDonald’s fraternization policy, but since he wasn’t fired for cause he was able to receive a severance package.
McDonalds’ would then sure Easterbook alleging that he committed fraud and lied to cover up additional inappropriate relationships with employees in a lawsuit that was settled by the two parties in December 2021.
“When corporate officers corrupt internal processes to manage their personal reputations or line their own pockets, they breach their fundamental duties to shareholders, who are entitled to transparency and fair dealing from executives,” said Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement, in a statement.
