A major lawsuit has been filed against McDonald’s for discrimination. According to the Associated Press, 52 plaintiffs are seeking compensation of $4 million to $5 million per store, which was filed in a Chicago court on September 1.
The lawsuit alleges, “McDonald’s steered Black franchisees to stores in inner-city neighborhoods with lower sales volumes and higher security and insurance costs. The company would provide them with misleading financial information or push them to decide quickly when a store became available.”
The plaintiffs owned approximately 200 stores and are claiming they were forced to sell. 

James Ferraro, the attorney representing the plaintiffs said in a statement, “Revenue is determined by one thing and one thing only: location. It’s a Big Mac. They’re the same everywhere.”

The lawsuit also read, "McDonald's knew or should have known that these differential revenue and operating costs of Black-operated franchises as compared to White-operated franchises are not random or due to poor management. These differences are statistically significant and are the result of the historical racial bias and barriers built into the McDonald's franchise system."

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McDonald’s responded with a lengthy statement, “These allegations fly in the face of everything we stand for as an organization and as a partner to communities and small business owners around the world. Not only do we categorically deny the allegations that these franchisees were unable to succeed because of any form of discrimination by McDonald’s, we are confident that the facts will show how committed we are to the diversity and equal opportunity of the McDonald’s System, including across our franchisees, suppliers and employees.”

In January, two Black senior executives accused McDonald's of a racial discrimination, which the company denied. A lawsuit was filed and is still ongoing.