French McDonald's employees plead their case against closures A delegation of employees from six McDonald's restaurants in Marseille paid a visit to the French Ministry of Economy to plead their case against the threatened closure of their restaurants by their current operator, a franchisor called Jean-Pierre Brochiero who owns the restaurant in a 50-50 joint venture with McDonald's France. The employees, who have been protesting for months, believe the takeover plan is a ruse to avoid paying them redundancy compensation and they have gone to court to prevent the transaction. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES