McDonald's Worker Sues: Payment Method 'Unfair'

Forced to use fee-laden debit card
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 18, 2013 2:00 AM CDT
McD's Worker's Choice: Use Debit Card or No Pay
Would you like fees with that?   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

A Pennsylvania woman who says a McDonald's franchise told her she could only be paid via a fee-laden debit card has launched a class-action suit. Single mother Natalie Gunshannon says she went to a lawyer after the restaurant refused to pay her by check or direct deposit, insisting that she use the card, the Times-Leader reports. The card fees—including $1.50 for ATM withdrawals and $5 for withdrawing money from a bank teller—would have brought her pay below minimum wage, she says. "People should be paid fairly and not have to pay fees to get their wages."

Her lawyer says plenty of other people have shared similar stories, even though Pennsylvania law requires workers to have the choice to be paid by check or cash. Employers who use the debit card method are "squeezing the most vulnerable of our society," he says. "They make minimum wage or a little more and they squeeze money from them." The franchise holders involved, who own 15 other McDonald's locations in the state, declined to comment on the lawsuit, ABC reports. (More McDonald's stories.)

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