McDonald's Corp. is being sued by 52 former Black franchisees who allege the company denied them the same opportunities afforded White-owned franchisees.
The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that the Chicago-based hamburger giant engaged in "blatant and implicit racial discrimination," according to the ex-franchisees' lawyer.
The suit points out that in 1998, there were 388 Black-owned McDonald's franchises in the U.S., which has fallen to 186 today.
In comparison, there were 15,086 total franchises in 1998; today there are nearly 39,000.
