A Delaware judge has dismissed claims against directors of McDonald’s in a shareholder lawsuit challenging their handling of sexual harassment by former CEO Steve Easterbrook and the company’s former top human resources executive.

Former McDonald’s workers who alleged rampant sexual harassment at their Michigan restaurant have reached a $1.5 million settlement agreement with the restaurant’s former owner.

For all the potential peril of a workplace romance, the most common source of trouble, experts say, is allowing it to remain a secret.

Former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has paid back more than $105 million in equity awards and cash to the burger giant after it learned that he had lied about the extent of his misconduct while he was its top executive.

McDonald’s will mandate worker training to combat harassment, discrimination and violence in its restaurants worldwide starting next year.

An internal investigation by McDonalds of potential misconduct has extended beyond its former CEO who was forced out late last year. After Easterbrook was became McDonald's CEO in 2015 he named Fairhurst, a friend, to lead the human resource department. Yet in July, McDonalds received information from another company employee suggesting that Easterbrook had multiple affairs with subordinates. The same person also told the company about issues within the human resources department. McDonalds named Heidi Capozzi, who had worked for Boeing, as human resources chief in March.

Sexual harassment at the Mason location is "emblematic" of a broader problem at McDonald's, the suit states. A former employee of a McDonald's in Detroit also filed a sexual harassment charge with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday, saying that she was transferred and her hours reduced after she reported sexual harassment by a manager. Easterbrook was not accused of sexual harassment. But the company had already been under fire over accusations of sexual harassment. The Fight for $15, which advocates for workers' rights, announced in May that 25 new sexual harassment EEOC charges and lawsuits had been filed against McDonald's.

(CNN) - Steve Easterbrook resigned from Walmart's board a day after announcing his exit from McDonald's. Easterbrook informed Walmart on Monday that he was stepping down from its board of directors effective immediately, according to a regulatory filing. The departure follows his dismissal as CEO of the fast food chain for having a consensual relationship with a McDonald's employee. Easterbrook joined Walmart's board of directors in 2018. Easterbrook had been McDonald's CEO since 2015.

(CNN) - Steve Easterbrook is out as McDonald's CEO and president after the board determined that he violated company policy, the company said on Sunday. Easterbrook, who became CEO in 2015, "demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee," McDonald's said in a statement. He is replaced in both roles by Chris Kempczinski, who was most recently president of McDonald's USA, effective immediately. This is a developing story. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.