Corporate turmoil at McDonald’s Australia as female tech manager’s sex discrimination lawsuit names senior leaders: ‘Don’t be the difficult woman’

A long-serving senior manager has accused McDonald’s Australia of fostering a ‘hostile boys’ club’, alleging she was ‘belittled’ ‘undermined’ ‘intimidated’ before her role was effectively taken from her.

Nicola van Moerkerken is suing the fast-food conglomerate in the Federal Court, claiming she was subjected to discrimination and less favourable treatment on the grounds of her sex.

She is also alleging disability discrimination on the basis she was treated less favourably due to assumptions about her mental health.

Ms van Moerkerken joined McDonald’s as an IT Solutions Specialist in 2009, and climbed through the company ranks, receiving consistently positive performance reviews and two awards for excellence, her court filing states. 

She also had ‘a proven track record’ of assisting McDonald’s to ‘manage and navigate complex, high-risk situations’, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2019 bushfires and the floods in Queensland and New South Wales in 2021.

At the time of the alleged events, Ms van Moerkerken was a senior manager in tech engineering, overseeing a team of seven in developing and implementing new technologies and platforms. 

Her filing alleges a ‘hostile working environment’ with men in the senior leadership team displaying ‘intimidating, belittling and aggressive behaviour’ towards women in meetings and other open forums.

It also alleges a ‘boys’ club’ culture with a blind eye turned to ‘inappropriate behaviour’ and complaints, with women making up only 12 per cent of the Technology Department workforce.

Ms van Moerkerken claims in legal documents that she was ‘repeatedly ignored or had her views dismissed’ by the all-male leadership team, and that she faced challenges in speaking up without being labelled ‘difficult’.

She alleges that after Mr Foti was promoted to Chief Technology Officer and Mr Bromfield was elevated to IT Director in 2024, she experienced ‘hostile treatment, belittling conduct, gaslighting, and being excluded from decision-making processes’.

McDonald’s denies the allegations and disputes aspects of the timeline surrounding Mr Bromfield’s promotion.

In its defence, McDonald’s states ‘that no such culture existed in the Technology department’ and that male staff, including Mr Foti and Mr Bromfield, did not behave in the manner alleged.

According to Ms van Moerkerken’s claim, things began to unravel in October 2024 after she raised concerns about the hiring of a candidate whom she believed lacked the necessary qualifications and experience.

She says that when she questioned the hiring decision with People Director Emma Peir, Ms Peir ‘became defensive’ and said ‘you’re being difficult’.

McDonald’s counters that this is an ‘inaccurate’ account of their conversation.

On October 15, Ms van Moerkerken was called into a meeting with Mr Foti, who questioned her mental health and recent behaviour, telling her to ‘rethink whether this is the right workplace’. 

He also allegedly said: ‘Sometimes the more senior you get in the organisation, the more you have to do things that go against your values. You have to trust the system.’ 

Mr Foti also allegedly said she needed to ‘be a team player’, and ‘not the difficult woman that people are concerned to work with’.

Ms van Moerkerken says she felt ‘patronised and intimidated’, and that Mr Foti was attempting to gaslight her into thinking her concerns were baseless and that their co-workers considered her ‘difficult’.

In a second one-on-one, Mr Foti allegedly warned her to ‘be careful’ because three directors had ‘raised concerns’ about her behaviour, including her complaints about McDonald’s ‘people practices’.

He allegedly warned her that ‘it would not be a good look’ if a fourth director raised concerns, and again suggested that she should reconsider whether ‘McDonald’s is where you want to be’. 

Ms van Moerkerken formed the impression that she was being targeted, intimidated and labelled ‘difficult’ for voicing what she believed were ‘legitimate concerns’ about McDonald’s culture and people practices, court documents state.

McDonald’s defence states that Ms van Moerkerken’s account of the meeting was ‘inaccurate’ and specifically denied that Mr Foti had called her ‘difficult’.

The company also said that ‘a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances’, would not have been made to feel this way by Mr Foti’s conduct in these meetings.

During a senior leadership meeting, Ms van Moerkerken also alleges that she was ‘undermined’ and ‘belittled’ by Mr Foti, who questioned her leadership and communication style in front of eight men and one other woman.

On November 11, Ms van Moerkerken attended a meeting she had requested with Mr Foti and Mr Bromfield to discuss improvements to recruitment processes.

During this meeting, she was allegedly questioned by Mr Foti on her motives for sending the email, and told she was ‘challenging to work with’ and ‘not a team player’.

She began to ‘sob uncontrollably’, after she was made to feel ‘humiliated, personally attacked, dejected and helpless’, and repeatedly told Mr Foti that she was ‘upset’.

McDonald’s conceded that Ms van Moerkerken was upset but denied she was crying ‘uncontrollably’. The company further claims that ‘at no time’ did Mr Foti say what is alleged, and that he had offered Ms van Moerkerken tissues and words of support.

After the meeting, Ms van Moerkerken alleges that Mr Foti told her to fetch her things and go home to think about her actions, then he advised her to return in two days to discuss how to continue working together, court documents state.

McDonald’s denies this happened. 

Ms van Moerkerken then took medical leave and received a letter stating that McDonald’s had ‘formed the preliminary view’ that she was ‘unable to perform the inherent requirements of her role’.

On November 13, she received a call from a member of her team informing her that he had been promoted into her role, and that she would be moving into a new role within the department.

Ms van Moerkerken alleges McDonald’s ‘unilaterally altered’ her role and inserted somebody else into it, which constituted ‘differential treatment’ due to her sex.

However, McDonald’s has said it commenced a restructure on that day, which divided Ms van Moerkerken’s role into three new roles, and that her prior role ceased to exist.

The company also denied knowledge of any disability suffered by Ms van Moerkerken.

The proceedings attempted mediation earlier this week; however, the matter was not resolved and will return to court at a later date. 

McDonald’s Australia would not comment on this specific case, but provided a general statement in response to our questions about workplace culture.

‘McDonald’s is proud of its continued progress in gender equality across its restaurants and offices,’ began a spokesperson.

‘Fifty-seven per cent of our restaurant managers and 59 per cent of our leadership team are women. In 2025, McDonald’s Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency report showed that we continue to sustain a zero gender pay gap and an even representation of men and women, including in our most senior roles.

‘McDonald’s Australia is committed to providing a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace to all of our employees.’