A local McDonald's with ongoing issues closed its dining room midday. Here’s why

At the McDonalds on Two Notch Road in 89 degree heat, fans are compensating for a lack of air conditioning a frequent customer says has been going on for an extended period of time.

“I’ve been doing this route for a couple months,” local mail carrier Emily Taylor said. “Ever since I’ve started, there’s not been air conditioning.”

In an emailed statement, owner and operator BJ Langley, whose family runs several McDonald’s franchises in the Columbia area, said ownership was aware of the issue and expected repairs to be complete by next week.

It’s important to me as a local business owner that all our employees have a safe and comfortable working environment,” Langley wrote. “We’ve been actively working with HVAC professionals to fix our restaurant’s air conditioning units that recently malfunctioned. As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we brought in portable A/C units to help keep our crew and guests comfortable while repairs are in progress and we’re continuing to monitor the temperature closely.”

The statement said employees had been given the option to transfer to another location and lighter, more comfortable uniforms, and that the AC units in the dining area and lobby are fully functional. Langley declined to specify the date ownership was first made aware of the outage.

At approximately 12:05 p.m. shortly before The State spoke with Taylor, the 2911 Two Notch Road location abruptly closed their indoor dining area.

An employee at the door would not respond to questions.

Taylor, who cannot use the drive through lane due to driving a mail truck, said the lack of AC was uncomfortable for her, but that she was sure it was even worse for the staff.

“I feel bad for the employees that have to work without the air conditioning,” Taylor said. “I don’t think that’s acceptable.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, does not require air conditioning, but both the agency and South Carolina labor law both state workplaces must be “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or physical harm” to employees.

Raymond Cook, a local resident who ordered inside and left before the closure, said the heat was noticeable and concerning.

“It’s horrible,” Cook said. “The middle of summer and there’s no air conditioning in McDonald’s on a major strip.”

Cook said he felt the restaurant should not be operating in its current state.

“Not at the temperatures they’re working at,” Cook said. “Even though this is a right-to-work state (and) we don’t have many unions here, I think they (ownership) could do a better job.”