Byron Allen is doubling down on taking McDonald’s to court.
The media mogul has hit the corporation with another lawsuit and is seeking $100 million and punitive damages for McDonald’s allegedly violating a California anti-fraud law “against making false promises,” according to Reuters. For the second go-round, the filing alleges that McDonald’s refuses to advertise with Black-owned media.
Back in May 2021, McDonald’s shared that it would increase its ad revenue from 2% to 5% by 2024, the outlet discloses. However, Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. and Weather Group LLC claim that the commitment wasn’t true. Allen backs his claim by saying that the Allen Media Group covers 90% of Black-owned media.
“During the Black Lives Matter movement, hundreds of corporations made pledges to Black America…McDonald’s is one of those corporations that has lied and made false promises,” Allen shared in a statement, according to Reuters.
On the other end, McDonald’s claims it’s been doing the opposite of what Allen alleges.
“Byron Allen files baseless lawsuits as part of a public smear campaign against our company to try to line his pockets,” McDonald’s shared in a statement, according to the outlet.
“We will not be coerced by these ‘in terrorem’ [legal] tactics and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
As previously reported by AfroTech, Allen first sued McDonald’s for $10 billion in 2021 for racial discrimination and for refusing to contract with Allen Media Group’s Entertainment Studios and Weather Group in violation of federal and state law.
Reuters details that a court filing from April 21 shows that McDonald’s lawyers failed in mediation to settle the $10 billion lawsuit. In addition, they claim that Allen attempted to “harass and harangue McDonald’s into an unmerited resolution.”
In an open letter in the Chicago Tribune on April 19, Allen accused the company of “horrible systemic racism against Black people.” He also called for its CEO and board of directors to step down.
