McDonald’s Loses Bid to Get Allen Suit Tossed; Will Refile
Byron Allen Discrimination Suit Against McDonald’s Goes Forward
(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge has denied McDonald Corp.’s request to throw out a discrimination lawsuit brought by media mogul Byron Allen, reigniting a campaign helmed by the businessman to gain more advertising for Black-owned media companies.
The McDonald’s motion was denied “for improperly referencing materials outside the pleadings,” U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles said in his ruling Friday. The ruling requires McDonald’s to refile the request or respond to Allen’s lawsuit by Jan. 27.
McDonald’s said the ruling was procedural.
“McDonald’s will refile its motion to dismiss by January 27 and continues to believe plaintiffs’ claims are meritless,” the company said in a statement. “This case is about revenue not race, and plaintiffs’ groundless allegations ignore McDonald’s legitimate business reasons for not investing more on their channels and the company’s collaboration with diverse-owned partners.”
In May, Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. sued McDonald’s, claiming the fast food chain discriminates against Black-owned television networks like his Weather Channel by almost exclusively spending its advertising dollars with White-owned stations. The lawsuit, which seeks $10 billion in damages, is part of a movement by Allen to correct what he deems is a long-running bias against Black-owned businesses.
Allen’s lawsuit was initially dismissed, and he’s now seeking to move ahead with a third amended complaint.
“We look forward to presenting our enormous evidence in court, which will prove the systemic racism at McDonald’s,” Allen said in a statement. “And I firmly believe the board at McDonald’s should fire the CEO Chris Kempczinski immediately.”
McDonald’s spends less than $5 million, or 0.3% of its annual $1.6 billion advertising budget, with Black-owned media companies, according to the original complaint. The TV producer and entrepreneur, who is African-American, has said advertisers should spend at least 5% of their budgets with companies such as his.
The case is Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. v. McDonald’s USA, 2:21-cv-04972, U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
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