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TRENDING
Feb. 13, 2024
Byron Allen's $100M Lawsuit Against McDonald Dismissed
The lawsuit, which accused McDonald's of fraudulent claims regarding an increase in ad spending with Black-owned media, was dismissed by a Los Angeles judge. By: Wee Yan Ling
The
lawsuit was initiated by The Weather Group under AMG’s umbrella which alleged
that McDonald’s has made untrue promises to boost ad spending with Black-owned
media companies from 2 to 5 % by the year of 2024. The legal action sought
compensation for an alleged lack of intention to follow through with the
commitment, aiming to prevent a potential mass boycott.
McDonald’s
has answered to the dismissal stating that the court’s decision validated their
position labelling the lawsuit as "just another frivolous lawsuit brought
by Byron Allen as part of his smear campaign against" the company.
The
court ruling has highlighted that AMG may be premature in its claims as the
lawsuit was filed before 204 and the duration for the fast-food chain to grant
their pledge has not yet been elapsed. AMG plans to appeal the decision with
its lawyer, Louis Miller, which highlights that California law forbids
companies from making false statements to the public.
AMG’s
Chief Revenue Officer, Darren Galatt had declared to the court that McDonald’s
rejected a $30 million ad spend proposal and only agreed to the fraction of
that amount. Galatt argued that McDonald’s needed to allocate approximately $25
million to Black-owned media by the end of the year to achieve its stated
objective.
Despite
the assertions, Judge Mel Recana had highlighted that McDonald still has 11
months to fulfil their promise. The court invoked California’s anti-SLAPP law
to protect free speech had ruled that the lawsuit based on a press release
about McDonald’s ad spend goal, aimed to chill the company’s free speech
rights.
The
lawsuit related to ad spend commitments was dismissed, a parallel suit by AMG
against McDonald’s alleging racial stereotyping through tiered advertising
structures continues in the federal court. The suit contends that McDonald’s
partakes in prejudicial practices based on race in its advertising structure.
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