McDonald’s Seeks Dismissal of Quarter Pounder Class Action

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McDonald’s has asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit claiming that McDonald’s should reduce the price of a Quarter Pounder when a customer orders it without cheese.

According to McDonald’s, the consumers’ claim that the company should reduce the price of a Quarter Pounder if a customer orders it without cheese is based on “fundamentally mistaken assumptions of fact and law.”

McDonald’s goes on to state that their menus advertise a Quarter Pounder as including cheese, so if a customer orders it without cheese, they are customizing their order.

The company claims that restaurants have no legal obligation to reduce the price of a menu item if a customer refuses one of the component parts of the menu item.

McDonald’s states that to require businesses to offer a reduced price based on a customization would “create utter chaos in the retail food industry.”

To further their argument that that McDonald’s Quarter Pounder class action lawsuit should be dismissed, the fast food company alleges that the plaintiffs had not sufficiently shown that the financial injury they reportedly incurred was the fault of the McDonald’s corporation.

Allegedly, it is the franchisees, not McDonald’s corporate headquarters that control pricing for food, and control the decision to reduce or not reduce prices based on customer requests for alterations, etc.

The McDonald’s Quarter Pounder cheese class action lawsuit was originally filed by plaintiffs Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner in federal court in Florida, on May 8, 2018.

The McDonald’s customers claimed that McDonald’s failure to reduce the price of the Quarter Pounder when it was ordered without cheese violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, as well as federal antitrust laws.

In their McDonald’s class action lawsuit, the consumers alleged that McDonald’s sells two versions of the Quarter Pounder – one without cheese and one with, for an increased price.

They claim that the fact that McDonald’s menu includes a separate order number for the Quarter Pounder with cheese and a separate order number for a Quarter Pounder without cheese indicates that the items are separate menu items and should be priced differently, but that customers are charged a “with cheese” price, even if they order the item without cheese.

McDonald’s fired back at this allegation by saying that the customers’ claim about the menu was mistaken, and that McDonald’s no longer advertises the Quarter Pounder without cheese, and only advertises the Quarter Pounder with cheese.

According to McDonald’s, if a customer wants no cheese on a Quarter Pounder, they order it as a customization of the product that normally comes with cheese.

McDonald’s says the current menu format does not mislead consumers, because it delineates what ingredients are included with a Quarter Pounder purchase.

Kissner and Werner are represented by Andrew T. Lavin of Lavin Law Group PA.

The McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Class Action Lawsuit is Cynthia E. Kissner and Leonard Werner v. McDonald’s Corporation, Case No. 0:18-cv-61026-WPD, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division.