National attention is being brought to giant corporations who employ thousands to millions of Americans across the country. From everyday employees working for Amazon to multi-million-dollar athletes, corporations are being held to a higher standard than before.
Now, fast-food giant McDonald’s faces backlash from Black American franchise owners and entrepreneurs, accused of allowing racism in the workplace and discriminating against Black-owned companies.
Most recently, two companies owned by media-entrepreneur Byron Allen sued McDonald’s for at least $10 billion May 20 claiming the company disregarded black media outlets and chose not to advertise with them.
Allen filed the complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing McDonald’s of violating federal and state civil rights through “racial animus and racial stereotyping”. He said McDonald’s refused to advertise with either his Entertainment Studios Networks or Weather Group which owns The Weather Channel.
“McDonald’s, like much of corporate America these days, publicly touts its commitment to diversity and inclusion, but this is nothing more than empty rhetoric,” the complaint said.
However, Allen’s grievances with the fast-food corporation are something that’s been brewing amongst a handful of black franchise owners across the country for years.
Earlier this year in February, retired MLB player Herb Washington sued McDonalds. Washington accused the corporation of showing favorable treatment to white franchise owners, while denying black owners the opportunity to buy restaurants in more affluent neighborhoods.
According to the complaint filed in Youngstown federal court, Washington said McDonalds gives its oldest stores to black owners in “the toughest neighborhoods”, not expecting black owners to achieve the same level of success as their white counterparts.
Washington said this leads to black owners spending more to operate their stores, with lower volume and profit margins.
Washington also claims certain regions had sales that only went to white owners in recent years, while black owners have been forced to sell their stores. He currently owns 14 restaurants, down from his original 26 that made him the richest Black American franchise owner in the country. Washington said McDonalds forced him to sell his stores for mismanagement and low sales, but claims the decision was racially motivated.
According to a report by WFMJ, Washington said black owners are being “targeted for extinction”. The lawsuit claims the number of black franchise owners dropped from 377 in 1998 to just 186 today.
Two Black American McDonald’s executives were the first to take a stance against the company back in September 2020, filing a lawsuit against the corporation for creating a hostile work environment and allowing racial discrimination under the former chief executive, according to a report by NBC.
Dallas senior executives Vicki Guster-Hines and Domineca Neal said McDonald’s commenced a “ruthless purge” of high-ranking Black executives between 2014 and 2019. According to the lawsuit McDonald’s fired 30 Black officers from its senior positions and demoted five others including Guster-Hintes and Neal in just five years.
NBC reports the number of black officers went from 42 to seven during that five-year period.
The women in the lawsuit also claim they witnessed a “startling decrease” in the number of Black franchises and unfair treatment within those establishments. Their complaints gained support from about 50 other black executives and franchise owners who backed their lawsuit of McDonald’s discrimination practices.
McDonald’s continues to claim they are making progressive changes to ensure diversity and inclusivity in their company and denies how they have been characterized in the lawsuits. In a statement McDonalds’s said they would address the lawsuits.