This comes after CEO Steve Easterbrook was fired for having a relationship with an employee.
McDonald Corporation Chief People Officer David Fairhurst recently left the company in the wake of CEO Steve Easterbrook's departure, which the the Wall Street Journal reported was due him having a relationship with an employee. Fairhurst reportedly made a statement explaining that his resignation wasn’t related to the firing of Easterbrook who admitted that his relationship with a public relations public relations staffer "violated company policy" and shown "poor judgement.”
However, speculation is rife around the connection between the two events, which highlight the importance of transparency when it comes to changes in leadership. Leaders are increasingly being held accountable when it comes to issues of professional misconduct, particularly in the C-Suite, and it is incumbent on organisations to prevent instances like such occurences to impact
Mason Smoot, senior vice president for strategic alignment and chief of staff for the Office of the CEO, will serve on an interim basis, the company said. A 23-year veteran of the company, Smoot has also served as vice president of HR for McDonald’s USA. McDonald’s has already appointed a successor to the CEO, with Chris Kempczinski, the former head of U.S. operations taking charge while Mason Smoot, a McDonald’s senior vice president whose been with the company employee since 1994, has been named as the interim Chief People Officer.
