As reported by USA Today on Sept. 1, 2020:
More than 50 former Black franchisees allege racial discriminatory practices against McDonald’s in new federal lawsuit
More than 50 Black former McDonald’s franchisees have filed suit in federal court against the fast-food giant, alleging they were racially discriminated against and denied the same opportunities as white franchisees.
In the suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Illinois, the 52 former McDonald’s franchisees – who, collectively, operated more than 200 stores between 1988 and 2018 – charge that the company steered them to operate restaurants in “economically depressed” communities and “dangerous locations.” These store locations had high rent and operating costs and were likely to generate lower sales than comparable ones elsewhere, the suit alleges.
Under what the suit describes as a two-tiered system of Black and white franchisees, McDonald’s profited from Black business operators and a Black consumer base, but eventually Black franchisees failed because they had been sent on “financial suicide missions.”
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