McDonald’s: Vote Republican, or else

An Ohio McDonald’s sent an upsetting, intimidating letter to employees, suggesting that if they dared to not vote Republican, it could affect their salary and benefits.

The franchisee sent the letter along with paychecks on official McDonald’s stationery, outlining which three specific candidates employees should select if they hope to continue feeding their children. The letter begins:

“As the election season is here we wanted you to know which candidates will help our business grow in the future. As you know, the better our business does it enables us to invest in our people and our restaurants. If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels. If others are elected we will not. “

Think Progress points out that the letter, which goes on to suggest employees vote for three Republican candidates, directly contradicts voter intimidation laws in Ohio, and spoke with a lawyer about the insinuations made by the McDonald’s franchisee:

“This is an outrageous attack on one of the most fundamental rights our citizens enjoy – the right to vote for the candidate of his/her choice without economic fear or threat,” states attorney Allen Schulman who is investigating the matter. “It is particularly egregious that in this time of harsh economic conditions, a corporation would stoop to this level of voter intimidation.”

Owner Paul Siegfried has since apologized for his “error in judgment” and any “offense” he may have caused.

[via Gawker]