personnel. In 1980, he moved from the Detroit to Rochester, New York, where he opened an inner-city McDonald's restaurant. He added his second local McDonald's franchise seven months later, and in 1986 he opened a McDonald's in suburban Pittsford, New York. He acquired a total of five Rochester-area McDonald's franchises. Washington's restaurant enterprise, HLW Fast Track Inc., owned 21 McDonald's franchises in Ohio and Pennsylvania by 2009; at that time, it was the largest McDonald's franchisee owned by an African-American. In 2021, Washington held a press conference to announce he was suing McDonald's for systemic racial discrimination. At the time of the lawsuit, Washington owned 14 franchises, down from his high of 27 franchises. Washington alleged that he was being discriminated due to having him operate restaurants with low-volume sales to go with unfair grading. The two sides announced a settlement of the lawsuit on December 16, in which McDonalds purchased 13 restaurants for $33.5 million in exchange for Washington exiting the McDonalds system and dismissing the lawsuit. Washington was co-chairman of the Small Business Committee of the United Way, and was active in the Urban League of Rochester. Washington was named to the New York State Athletic Commission in 1990. In 1992, he became the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo, New York, branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and later was named Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In 2005, he founded the Youngstown SteelHounds minor league hockey franchise in the Central Hockey League (CHL). The SteelHounds were removed from the CHL in 2008 for non-payment of league dues. Washington said that he had paid the league's expansion team fees but that he owed some money, which he was withholding because the league did not reimburse him for some travel expenses. The International Hockey League (IHL) expressed some interest in picking up the Youngstown team, but the league dropped the idea after no serious meetings were held between the team and the IHL. Personal Washington married Gisele Gibbs, who also attended Michigan State University, in 1980, and the couple had two children, Terrell and Arielle, both of whom also attended MSU. Washington's son Terrell ran track in college, and as of 2012, he was the general manager of his father's McDonald's franchising company. References External links Inhistoric: A's sign Herb Washington 1951 births Living people African-American baseball players Baseball