Byron Allen’s $10B McDonald’s race discrimination suit heads to trial in ‘close call’ decision

Published

5 months ago

December 5, 2024

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A federal judge in California has ruled that media mogul Byron Allen’s $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against McDonald’s may proceed to trial.

In what US District Judge Fernando M. Olguin said was a “close call,” the court found that Allen’s claims that the fast-food chain engaged in “racial stereotyping” by not advertising with black-owned media would best be addressed by a jury.

“At a minimum, this is the type of case where the trial court is permitted, in its discretion, to deny even a well-supported motion for summary judgment, if it believes the case will benefit from a full hearing,” Olguin ruled in a 25-page order.

The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s violated federal and California civil rights laws by deeming Allen’s networks ineligible for the “vast majority” of its advertising dollars.

Allen accused McDonald’s of relegating his Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc. and Weather Group LLC, which owns the Weather Channel, to an “African American tier” with a separate black-focused ad agency and much smaller ad budget, depriving them of tens of millions of dollars of annual revenue.

The lawsuit claims Allen and his companies had requested to be clients for McDonald’s larger advertising arm, but were relegated to the smaller black-only agency because Allen is black, which Entertainment Studios called “blatant and pernicious discrimination.”

According to the complaint, about 40% of McDonald’s customers are black, but the company spent less than $5 million of its $1.6 billion advertising budget in 2019 on black-owned media.

“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 states.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 on the same day McDonald’s announced it would boost its national ad spending on black-owned media to 5% from 2% by 2024, and also increase spending on Hispanic-, Asian-American-, women- and LGBTQ-owned platforms.

Allen welcomed Olguin’s decision in a statement to theGrio.

“We have overwhelming evidence against McDonalds who has been sued by its Black executives, Black franchisees, and their global head of security for racial discrimination,” Allen said. “It is time for the McDonalds Board of Directors, stockholders, and civil rights organizations nationwide to call for the resignation of CEO Chris Kempczinski, who was caught sending racist text messages about Black and Hispanic people.”

In a statement, the McDonald’s Corporation said the judge’s decision simply meant that neither party had met the high standard for dismissal at this stage of the proceedings.

“We are prepared to show that this case is utterly baseless. McDonalds invested in media properties that aligned with the companys business strategy and, like any other rational business, declined to invest in those that had low ratings or failed to reach the companys target audiences,” it said.

Reuters contributed to this report

Politics

New Hampshire governor signs crypto reserve bill into law

Published

57 mins ago

May 6, 2025

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New Hampshire governor signs crypto reserve bill into law

New Hampshire became the first US state to allow its government to invest in crypto currencies including Bitcoin (BTC), after Governor Kelly Ayotte signed a bill passed by the legislature into law.

In a May 6 notice, Ayotte announced on social media that New Hampshire would be permitted to “invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals” through a bill passed in the state Senate and House of Representatives. House Bill 302, introduced in New Hampshire in January, will allow the state’s treasury to use funds to invest in cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of more than $500 billion, eliminating many tokens and memecoins.

“The Live Free or Die state is leading the way in forging the future of commerce and digital assets,” said New Hampshire Republicans in a May 6 X post.

Law, New Hampshire, United States, Bitcoin Reserve — *Signing New Hampshire’s crypto reserve bill into law on May 6. Source:* *Governor Kelly Ayotte*

With the signing of the bill into law, New Hampshire becomes the first of several US states considering passing legislation to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, including an initiative with the federal government. A similar bill in Arizona passed the state’s House in April but was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs on May 2, and Florida’s government withdrew two crypto reserve bills from consideration on May 3.

New Hampshire’s crypto plans to precede the US government’s?

The efforts to create crypto reserves in different US states come as US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers propose similar policies at the federal level. Trump signed an executive order in March to establish a “Digital Asset Stockpile” and a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis, who sponsored the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act, proposed that the US government could hold more than 1 million BTC through civil and criminal forfeiture seizures. The bill is currently being considered by members of the US Senate Banking Committee.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

World

Pakistan ‘attacked with missiles’ – as India says it targeted terrorist camps

Published

57 mins ago

May 6, 2025

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Pakistan 'attacked with missiles' - as India says it targeted terrorist camps

Pakistan says it has been targeted in a missile attack by India.

Three missiles were fired by India across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory, said Pakistani security officials.

They hit locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to officials.

The Indian defence ministry said it had launched Operation Sindoor as it struck “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.

It said a total of nine sites were targeted.

A Pakistan military spokesman said the country will respond to the attacks.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been escalating following a militant gun attack in the disputed area of Kashmir last month.

At least 26 people, most of whom were Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen at a beauty spot near the resort town of Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled part of the region on 22 April.

India described the massacre as a “terror attack” and said it had “cross border” links, blaming Pakistan for backing it.

Pakistan denied any connection to the atrocity, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group called the Kashmir Resistance.

Since the attack, Pakistan’s military has been on high alert after a cabinet minister said Islamabad had credible intelligence indicating that India could attack.

And Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif told Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim that the world should be “worried” about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations.

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World

Friedrich Merz becomes Germany’s new chancellor after surviving historic vote failure

Published

57 mins ago

May 6, 2025

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Friedrich Merz becomes Germany's new chancellor after surviving historic vote failure

Friedrich Merz has become Germany’s new chancellor after winning a second vote in the country’s parliament.

He unexpectedly failed in the first parliamentary ballot on Tuesday morning – the first time a chancellor has failed to be elected at the first attempt since the Second World War.

Initially, needing a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, he received 310 – falling short by just six votes. On the second ballot he managed 325.

It means Mr Merz, the leader of the country’s CDU/CSU conservatives, has become the 10th chancellor since the end of the Second World War.

He had been expected to win comfortably after securing a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

It meant at least 18 coalition MPs failed to back him in the first round of voting.

Announcing the second vote, Jens Spahn, the head of the Union bloc in parliament, said: “The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections.”

Earlier, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, said on X that Mr Merz’s failure to secure a majority in the first round showed the “weak foundation” on which his coalition was built, adding that it had been “voted out by the voters”.

Mr Merz, 69, succeeds Olaf Scholz and has vowed to prioritise European unity and the continent’s security.

His in-tray includes the Ukraine war and global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent congratulations to Mr Merz and wished him “every success”.

The Ukrainian president added that the future of Europe was “at stake” and security will “depend on our unity”.

Mr Merz will also have to decide what to do about the AfD, which mainstream parties have refused to work with.

A “firewall” against collaborating with strongly right-wing parties has been in place since the end of the war.

During federal elections in late February, the AfD scored its best-ever result while Olaf Scholz’s SPD dropped to about 16%.

The AfD is the second largest party in the lower house of the Bundestag and was officially designated as extremist last week by Germany’s domestic spy agency.