McDonald's sued in Chicago class action over alleged algorithmic menu price fixing
McDonald's was sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging it illegally coordinates menu prices across franchises and company-owned restaurants using an AI-powered pricing system. McDonald's said the allegations are speculative and uninformed and that franchisees make their own pricing decisions.
By Mike Scarcella WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) — McDonald's has been sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food giant illegally coordinates menu prices across its franchises and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system. Here are the details: The lawsuit, filed on Friday, said McDonald’s violated federal antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms that are trained on nonpublic data.
The plaintiffs said they are suing on behalf of a class of potentially millions of McDonald’s customers "Independent businesses must set their prices independently," the lawsuit said The complaint alleges that McDonald’s has enforced a "coercive price-fixing agreement" on its franchisees since 2019 McDonald’s in a statement called the allegations speculative and uninformed. "AI does not set the price of a Big Mac or any other menu item," McDonald's said. The company said McDonald’s imposes no pricing mandates and that franchisees make their own pricing decisions The plaintiffs' lawyers had no immediate comment (Reporting by Mike Scarcella)