Little Caesars Class Action Says Restaurant Misrepresents Its ‘Halal’ Pepperoni

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Little Caesar Pizza, Little Caesar Enterprise Inc., and the manager and other employees of a Wayne County Little Caesars restaurant over allegations they violated Michigan state and county law when they sold a devoted Muslim pork pepperoni even though he ordered “Halal Pepperoni.”

Plaintiff Mohamad Bazzi says the Little Caesar restaurant located on Schaefer Road in Dearborn, Mich., caters to a large number of Muslim customers by offering Halal Pepperoni. According to the Little Caesar class action lawsuit, the defendants’ restaurant posts a “Halal” sign in their window.

The term “Halal” is Arabic for “permissible,” and refers to food that is permissible to eat according to Islamic law. Muslims are prohibited from eating pork, and therefore meat products that contain pork cannot be certified as “Halal.”

On March 20, 2017, Bazzi says he ordered a large pizza with “Halal Pepperoni” from the Little Caesars restaurant. After eating a few bites of the pizza, Bazzi and his wife realized the pepperoni was not halal and was actually made of pork, the Little Caesars class action lawsuit says.

“The plaintiff could not believe that he was defrauded and wondered how many other people may have been unknowingly eating ‘Pork’ that defendants sold as ‘Halal,'” according to the Little Caesars class action lawsuit. He says he filed a complaint with the Dearborn Police Department because it is a crime under local and state law to mislabel meat as “Halal.”

On May 24, Bazzi says he again ordered a “Halal Pepperoni” pizza from the Little Caesars restaurant and received a box of pizza that was labeled “Halal.” According to the halal pizza class action lawsuit, the pizza he received was pork and therefore not halal.

When he complained that the pizza he received was not halal despite having a “halal” sticker on the box, he was allegedly told that he ordered and received a hot and ready pepperoni. According to the halal pepperoni class action lawsuit, the restaurant manager told him that they placed the “halal” sticker on the box because he asked them to, not because he had asked for a halal pepperoni pizza.

Bazzi maintains he had asked for a halal pepperoni pizza and received a pork pepperoni pizza.

According to the halal pizza class action lawsuit, there are likely thousands of consumers who were served pork pepperoni pizza at the Little Caesars store even though they specifically ordered halal pepperoni.

Bazzi filed the Little Caesars class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and other Michigan customers who purchased pork pepperoni from the Schaefer Street Little Caesars in Dearborn that was falsely labeled as “Halal Pepperoni.” He seeks injunctive relief, restitution and damages.

Bazzi is represented by Majed A. Moughni of the Law Offices of Majed A. Moughni PLLC.

The Little Caesar Halal Pizza Class Action Lawsuit is Mohamad Bazzi v. Little Caesar Pizza, et al., Case No. 17-007931-NO, in the Circuit Court for the County of Wayne, State of Michigan.