{"id":141241,"date":"2021-02-17T11:37:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=141241"},"modified":"2021-02-17T11:43:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:43:26","slug":"black-owner-of-14-franchises-sues-mcdonalds-over-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/black-owner-of-14-franchises-sues-mcdonalds-over-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Owner Of 14 Franchises Sues McDonald\u2019s Over Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblack-owner-of-14-franchises-sues-mcdonalds-over-bias%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=141241&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1229889387.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The owner of 14 McDonald\u2019s fast food franchises is claiming that the company has shown bias toward white owners, according to a civil rights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peifferwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021.02.16-Washington-v.-McDonalds-et-al.-Complaint-as-filed.pdf\">lawsuit<\/a> filed Tuesday in federal court.<\/p>\n<p>Herb Washington, who is a former Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball player, created the largest black-owned McDonald\u2019s franchise operation in the nation, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/02\/16\/mcdonalds-black-franchise-lawsuit\/\">The Washington Post<\/a>. He owned 27 McDonald\u2019s restaurants in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York over the course of his 40 years as a franchisee.<\/p>\n<p>Washington is now accusing the company, however, of pushing him out in 2017 as retribution for being vocal about what he alleges is the \u201cpredatory, racially biased steering practices\u201d against black franchisees.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peifferwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021.02.16-Washington-v.-McDonalds-et-al.-Complaint-as-filed.pdf\">lawsuit<\/a> reads, \u201cWhen Mr. Washington spoke up for himself and other Black franchisees, McDonald\u2019s told him to sit down and be quiet. McDonald\u2019s then discriminated further against Mr. Washington for daring to stand up for himself and to challenge McDonald\u2019s racial discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The complaint acknowledges that \u201cMcDonald\u2019s has joined the chorus of brands releasing hollow solidarity statements in support of Black Lives Matter,\u201d adding that the company \u201chas launched a marketing campaign to profit from that movement.\u201d However, its language accuses the restaurant company, saying it \u201chas done nothing to change its own internal policies that perpetuate systemic racism by disadvantaging and squeezing out its Black franchise owners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit goes on to claim that while he used to be McDonald\u2019s largest franchisee in the United States who is African American, the company has \u201ctargeted Mr. Washington for unfair grading and assessments designed to render him ineligible to continue to operate his restaurants.\u201d It adds that this was done to \u201cforce him to sell numerous stores to White franchisees.\u201d The lawsuit alleges that this was part of the company\u2019s \u201ceffort to reduce Black ownership in its system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/02\/16\/mcdonalds-black-franchise-lawsuit\/\">The Washington Post<\/a> reports Mr. Washington\u2019s comments on the lawsuit:<\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-el=\"text\"><em>\u201cMcDonald\u2019s has targeted me for extinction,\u201d Washington said during a Zoom press conference from his home, appearing in a gray suit and black tie before a painting of Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston. \u201cIt took every ounce of me to succeed against the incredible and unfair odds that McDonald\u2019s forced on me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-el=\"text\"><em>Washington said he\u2019s suing to end McDonald\u2019s \u201ctwo-tiered system where Black owner operators cannot be as successful as Whites. There is a system for them and one for people who look like me.\u201d He said many Black franchisees left McDonald\u2019s broke because of that system.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>McDonald\u2019s responded on Tuesday, saying that Mr. Washington\u2019s position is a result of his own doing.<\/p>\n<div>\u201cThis situation is the result of years of mismanagement by Mr. Washington, whose organization has failed to meet many of our standards on people, operations, guest satisfaction and reinvestment,\u201d McDonald\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/02\/16\/mcdonalds-black-franchise-lawsuit\/\">reportedly<\/a> said in a statement. \u201cHis restaurants have a public record of these issues including past health and sanitation concerns and some of the highest volumes of customer complaints in the country.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lawsuit states that McDonald\u2019s is biased against black franchisees, alleging that the company \u201crelegat[es] Black owners to the oldest stores in the toughest neighborhoods,\u201d creating a situation where they \u201cmust spend more to operate their stores while White franchisees get to realize the full benefit of their labors.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>According to the lawsuit, the amount of Black McDonald\u2019s franchise owners in the U.S. has decreased from 377 in 1998 to 186 today. <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Business\/wireStory\/black-franchise-owner-sues-mcdonalds-cites-persistent-bias-75926215?cid=social_twitter_abcnp\">ABC News reports<\/a> that the company responded to this, saying that while the total number of its U.S. restaurants has risen in the same time period <span><em>\u2014<\/em><\/span><em>&nbsp;<\/em>from around 12,500 at the end of 1998 to 14,000 in the present day <span><em>\u2014<\/em><\/span> the percentage of black-owned stores \u201cis broadly unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"relative cb bg-offwhite mt-xxs pt-md pb-md mb-lg ml-neg-gutter mr-neg-gutter mr-auto-ns ml-auto-ns hide-for-print dn db-ns\" data-qa=\"article-body-ad\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/mcdonalds-seeks-dismissal-of-discrimination-lawsuit-filed-by-black-former-franchisees-11603476224?mod=e2tw\">October<\/a> of last year, McDonald\u2019s sought a dismissal of a similar lawsuit that claimed racial bias, \u201caccusing it of selling Black owners subpar stores and failing to support their businesses\u2026\u201d As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/mcdonalds-seeks-dismissal-of-discrimination-lawsuit-filed-by-black-former-franchisees-11603476224?mod=e2tw\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a>:<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>McDonald\u2019s said it was implausible that it had a \u201csecret strategy\u201d to undermine Black owners, as it profits off its franchisees\u2019 gains.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"relative cb bg-offwhite mt-xxs pt-md pb-md mb-lg ml-neg-gutter mr-neg-gutter mr-auto-ns ml-auto-ns hide-for-print dn db-ns\" data-qa=\"article-body-ad\"><em><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em><span>member<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span>.<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The owner of 14 McDonald\u2019s fast food franchises is claiming that the company has shown bias toward white owners, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2181405,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1229889387.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Black Owner Of 14 Franchises Sues McDonald\u2019s Over Bias","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1229889387.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Black Owner Of 14 Franchises Sues McDonald\u2019s Over Bias","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2181405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}