McDonald’s Drive-Thru ADA Class Action Lawsuit Tossed For Now

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A McDonald’s class action lawsuit alleging late-night drive-thru hours violate the Americans with Disabilities Act has been dismissed by a federal judge for being too general.

The dismissal of the McDonald’s class action lawsuit may not be the end, however.

U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee granted the plaintiff 21 days to amend his McDonald’s drive-thru class action lawsuit to address the issues that led to its dismissal.

Lead plaintiff Christopher Faircloth claimed in his McDonald’s class action lawsuit that the fast-food giant’s failure to provide late-night service accessible to those with visual-impairments violated the ADA.

The plaintiff contended that he and other McDonald’s customers with visual-impairments were forced to ask for a ride or pay expensive taxi fares to access McDonald’s late at night when the restaurant is limited to drive-thru-only service.

However, Judge Lee pointed out that the plaintiff failed to establish that he had or would ever attempt to access McDonald’s late-night drive-thru.

“Faircloth alleges only that he ‘periodically desires to obtain food’ from McDonald’s during times when the interior of the restaurant is closed and that he ‘sometimes avoids going to McDonald’s’ during those times,” pointed out the judge in the order dismissing the McDonald’s ADA class action lawsuit. “This is not enough to establish a past injury for purposes of standing.”

McDonald’s asked the court to dismiss the drive-thru class action lawsuit, arguing that it was not likely that the plaintiff “walked almost five hours in the middle of the night to get a hamburger.”

The plaintiff responded that he shouldn’t have to attempt to walk through the McDonald’s drive-thru in the dark to prove his point.

However, Judge Lee noted that the McDonald’s drive-thru class action lawsuit failed to include specifically the number of times the plaintiff did not end up going to the drive-thru during late night hours because of its inaccessibility.

“Faircloth does not allege that he has ever attempted to access McDonald’s during the late-night hours and been turned away,” pointed out Judge Lee.

Further, “[t]he court may infer from the fact that Faircloth ‘sometimes avoids’ visiting during late­-night hours that he will similarly avoid doing so again in the future,” stated the judge in the order dismissing the McDonald’s ADA class action lawsuit. “But this ‘some day intent’ is not enough to establish standing.”

The McDonald’s ADA class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of visually-impaired consumers who cannot access the drive-thru late at night due to their disability. The class action lawsuit was launched against the fast food giant in March 2018.

Faircloth is represented by Roberto Luis Costales and William H. Beaumont of Beaumont Costales LLC.

The McDonald’s Drive-Thru ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Faircloth v. McDonald’s Corp., et al., Case No. 1:18-­cv-­01831, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.