Media mogul filed a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald’s for racial discrimination

McDonald’s is getting ready to defend itself against a racial discrimination lawsuit that was filed for $10 billion by media magnate Byron Allen and his firm, Allen Media Group. A case was filed alleging that McDonald’s discriminated against black employees.

According to a press release issued by Allen, a federal court has given permission for Allen and his company to attempt to prove in court that the fast-food giant violated civil rights laws by allegedly relegating Allen’s TV networks to an “African American tier” with a smaller advertising budget. This information was provided in a statement that was included in Allen’s press release.

Allen asserts that just a tiny fraction of McDonald’s yearly advertising budget, which is around $1.6 billion, is distributed to Black-owned media organizations. This share is approximately $5 million. He claims that McDonald’s has “refused to advertise” on his networks.

The Weather Channel and Comedy.TV are two of the networks that are owned by the business that Allen founded.

According to what Allen had to say about the matter, “This is about the economic participation of African American-owned firms in the economy of the United States.” He made the statement that McDonald’s collects billions of dollars from African American customers but contributes practically nothing in return. The trade gap between white corporate America and black America is the biggest trade imbalance in the U.S., and McDonald’s is partly to blame for keeping this gap going.

McDonald’s is being represented in the lawsuit by former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has said that the evidence would establish that McDonald’s does not discriminate and has called Allen’s accusations “meritless.” Allen is the plaintiff in the case.

“Their complaint is about revenue, not race, and the plaintiffs’ groundless allegations ignore both McDonald’s legitimate business reasons for not investing more in their channels and the company’s long-standing business relationships with many other diverse-owned partners,” Lynch said.

Lynch was Attorney General during the Obama administration. She is now working as a private lawyer for the firm Paul Weiss.