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McDonald’s sued over Hispanic scholarship program days after DEI rollback
January 14, 2025
Legal group American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) has sued fast food chain McDonald’s for allegedly “blatantly” discriminating against high schoolers based on race through a scholarship program.
McDonald’s last week announced it would retire some aspects of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The chain cited a review it conducted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on affirmative action as a factor behind the decision.
AAER alleged McDonald’s, despite its changes, continues to employ discriminatory practices through its HACER scholarship program, which awards up to $100,000 annually to up to 30 students. The scholarship’s eligibility requirements state applicants must “have at least one parent of Hispanic/Latino heritage,” the lawsuit, announced Sunday, claims.
McDonald’s notes on its website more than $33 million in HACER scholarships have been “awarded to Hispanic and Latino students across the country.”
“This kind of discrimination was never lawful, even before Harvard held that colleges cannot use race or ethnicity in admissions,” the lawsuit reads. “No racial discrimination is benign.”
Edward Blum, the head of AAER, and the organization were behind the lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that preceded the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision.
AAER, according to the lawsuit, has members who “are ready and able to apply to McDonald’s current contest for high schoolers graduating in 2025.” These members, the group alleges, are being harmed by McDonald’s “racially discriminatory program.”
“Member A is able and ready to apply for the HACER scholarship, once a court orders the program to be equally open to all ethnicities,” the lawsuit reads. “Member A is able to apply because, except for the requirement of being Hispanic, she otherwise satisfies all of the contest’s “eligibility requirements.” She’s a high-school senior. She’s a U.S. citizen. She’s 17 years old. She has a 3.8 GPA.”
The complaint closes by asking the court to declare HACER violates Americans’ rights to equal treatment under the law and to issue an order preventing HACER from closing its current application window. The document also asks the court to require HACER to allow applicants of all races and award AAER $1 in nominal damages.
When reached for comment, McDonald’s said it is “reviewing the complaint” and will “respond to it accordingly.”
“However, McDonald’s announced its evolution on our inclusion work last week, and part of that process will be reviewing programs, in partnership with our franchisees as applicable, to ensure these programs align with our vision moving forward,” the company added.
Among the DEI changes announced by McDonald’s last week was a tweak to the title of its diversity team, which will now reflect a broader commitment to “inclusion.”
“We are retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance,” McDonald’s wrote. “We are evolving how we refer to our diversity team, which will now be the Global Inclusion Team.”
“This name change is more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team’s work,” it added.
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