McDonald's faces discrimination suit by 52 black former franchisees

The 52 franchisees are seeking as much as $5 million in damages for each of the more than 200 stores that they operated

McDonald’s is the subject of a lawsuit by more than 50 Black former franchisees in the US, who say they were driven out of business after being pushed by the company to set up shop in crime-ridden areas and denied financial help extended to white franchisees. The Black franchisees were steered to inner-city and urban areas with low-volume sales and high security and insurance costs, and were refused favourable franchise terms because McDonald’s unfairly graded their performance, according to a copy of a complaint filed Tuesday in Chicago federal court. The complaint couldn’t immediately be verified in court records.

The 52