McDonald’s class action lawsuits and settlements in 2025 and 2026 cover a lot of ground: a deadly E. coli outbreak tied to Quarter Pounders, multimillion-dollar wage-and-hour settlements for hourly workers in California and Oregon, a quickly resolved challenge to the HACER Hispanic scholarship, a $10 billion advertising discrimination case brought by Byron Allen, ongoing suits by dozens of Black former franchisees, and a data breach that exposed roughly 64 million job applications. Some of these cases pay class members directly. Others have already closed with no money changing hands. Here is what each one involves and where it stands.
E. Coli Quarter Pounder Cases
In late 2024, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to slivered onions on Quarter Pounders sickened 104 people across 14 states, hospitalized 34, and killed one older adult in Colorado. Four patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious kidney complication. The CDC confirmed all 104 cases came from the same outbreak strain, and 99% of the people interviewed had eaten at McDonald’s beforehand.1CDC. Outbreak Investigation E. Coli O157
The onions came from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility, which recalled its yellow onions on October 22, 2024. Ground beef was investigated and cleared.2FDA. Outbreak Investigation E. Coli O157:H7 Onions
Two kinds of lawsuits followed. Personal injury suits started October 23, 2024, when Colorado resident Eric Stelly filed the first case in Cook County, Illinois, alleging product liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranties. His attorneys said they represented at least ten other victims.3ABC7 New York. Colorado Man Files First Lawsuit Against McDonald’s More individual suits have been filed against both McDonald’s and Taylor Farms.4WHSV. Family Sues McDonald’s, Taylor Farms After Allegedly Contracting E. Coli In August 2025, McDonald’s settled with at least one Colorado plaintiff; the terms were not disclosed.5Law360. McDonald’s Settles Colo. Buyer’s Quarter Pounder E. Coli Suit
The consumer class action is different. Filed October 31, 2024, by Tammy Williams in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, it doesn’t require that a buyer got sick. It alleges McDonald’s marketing of Quarter Pounders was “false, deceptive, and misleading” because the burgers contained or risked containing E. coli, making them “entirely worthless.” The suit seeks to represent a nationwide class of purchasers.6Milberg. McDonald’s E. Coli Outbreak Lawsuit
California Wage-and-Hour Settlement: Romero v. McDonald’s
Hourly workers in California are covered by a $6.5 million settlement in Christina Romero v. McDonald’s Restaurants of California, Inc. (Case No. CIVSB2305280), filed in San Bernardino Superior Court. The suit alleged failure to pay wages, provide meal and rest breaks, reimburse business expenses, furnish accurate wage statements, and timely pay final wages.7Romero v. McDonald’s Settlement. Romero v. McDonald’s CA Settlement
The class covers people employed in hourly positions at McDonald’s Restaurants of California between June 2, 2020, and May 7, 2024. A final approval hearing was set for March 13, 2025. Class members were told payments would issue automatically once the settlement became final, so no claim form was required.8Simpluris. Romero v. McDonald’s Notice of Eligible Work Weeks
Oregon Meal Break Settlement: South v. Armstrong
A $3.55 million settlement resolved South, et al. v. Armstrong, et al. (Case No. 20CV29671) in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Hourly employees at McDonald’s franchise locations operated by UTB Enterprises LLC and Goldenband LLC alleged they were denied compliant 30-minute meal breaks on shifts of six hours or more and weren’t paid when breaks were missed, shortened, or interrupted. The defendants admitted no liability. The claims deadline was March 8, 2026, with a fairness hearing on March 27, 2026.9Top Class Actions. $3.55M McDonald’s Employee Meal Breaks Class Action Settlement
HACER Scholarship Settlement
McDonald’s HACER scholarship used to require that applicants have at least one parent of Hispanic or Latino heritage. That eligibility rule is gone. On January 12, 2025, the American Alliance for Equal Rights, led by Edward Blum, sued in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, alleging the ethnic requirement violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.10WBEZ. Lawsuit McDonald’s Hispanic Heritage College Scholarships
The parties stipulated to settlement on January 31, 2025, and the court dismissed the case with prejudice on February 3, 2025.11Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. American Alliance for Equal Rights v. McDonald’s Corporation The scholarship is now open to all applicants regardless of race or ethnicity. Eligibility is based on a student’s “impact and contribution to the Hispanic/Latino community through their activities, leadership and service.” No money changed hands, McDonald’s admitted no wrongdoing, and the application deadline was extended from February 6 to March 6, 2025.10WBEZ. Lawsuit McDonald’s Hispanic Heritage College Scholarships
Byron Allen Advertising Discrimination Settlement
On June 13, 2025, McDonald’s settled a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group. Filed in 2021 in federal court in Los Angeles, the suit alleged McDonald’s split its ad budget into a smaller “African American tier” for Black-targeted outlets and a larger “general tier” for broader networks, refusing to buy general-tier ads on Allen’s channels (The Weather Channel, Justice Central, Comedy.TV) while running them on similarly positioned white-owned outlets.12Franchise Times. McDonald’s Settles With Black-Owned Media Group Ahead of Set Trial Date
The case had survived a motion to dismiss in December 2024, with U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin calling it a “close call.” Trial was set for July 2025; the settlement landed about a month before that date. Financial terms are confidential. Allen’s companies dismissed the suit, McDonald’s agreed to buy advertising across Allen’s platforms, and McDonald’s made no admission of wrongdoing.13Variety. Byron Allen Settlement Lawsuit McDonald’s TV Ads
Black Franchisee Discrimination Suits (Still Active)
Two federal cases brought by Black former franchisees remain open.
Manning et al v. McDonald’s USA, LLC (Case No. 1:23-cv-00210), filed in 2023, brings claims from more than 40 Black former franchisees across more than a dozen states. They allege McDonald’s steered Black owners into low-profit stores in high-crime areas, denied requests to buy more profitable locations, imposed demands not faced by white owners, withheld financial support given to white franchisees, and in some cases forced Black owners to sell successful stores to white operators below fair market value. In June 2025, the plaintiffs called for a nationwide boycott after McDonald’s scaled back its diversity initiatives.14Loevy & Loevy. McDonald’s Plaintiffs Boycott Statement McDonald’s has called the suit a “desperate publicity stunt” and said the claims were “previously dismissed.”15Chicago Tribune. McDonald’s Discrimination Lawsuit Black Operators
Crawford v. McDonald’s (Case No. 1:20-cv-05132), filed in August 2020 in the Northern District of Illinois, was originally brought by 52 Black franchisees. It alleges violations of Section 1981 and includes state-law breach of contract and fraud claims, arguing McDonald’s “set the franchisees up to fail” by placing them in economically depressed areas. The case remains ongoing after multiple rounds of dismissal motions and an unsuccessful 2023 settlement conference.16Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Crawford v. McDonald’s
According to the Chicago Tribune, the number of Black McDonald’s franchisees dropped from 377 in 1998 to 186 in 2020.15Chicago Tribune. McDonald’s Discrimination Lawsuit Black Operators
McHire Data Breach
If you applied for a McDonald’s job through the McHire platform, your information may have been exposed. In June 2025, a security breach affecting the AI-powered hiring platform operated by Paradox.ai exposed roughly 64 million job applications. Investigators traced the vulnerability to basic security failures, including an administrator account secured with the password “123456” and left dormant since 2019. Exposed data included applicant names, email addresses, phone numbers, and chat logs with the platform’s AI chatbot.17Claremont Graduate University ICDC. McDonald’s July 2025 Breach Law firms had announced investigations into potential class action claims as of mid-2025, but no formal suit had been filed at that time.
An Individual Employment Case That Was Dismissed
Not every discrimination claim against McDonald’s has moved forward. In November 2025, U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins in the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a suit by a Black former McDonald’s security executive who alleged he was fired for confronting the CEO about racial disparities. The court found his remarks about social inequities were not protected under federal anti-discrimination law.18Law360. Black Exec Who Confronted McDonald’s CEO Loses Bias Suit This was an individual case, not a class action, and it produced no recovery.