American tycoon Byron Allen filed a $ 10 billion lawsuit against McDonald's for "racism and violation of civil rights".
According to CNN, Allen claims that only a small fraction, about $ 5 million, of the $ 1.6 billion annual advertising budget is allocated by McDonald's to media owned by African Americans and that, in particular, the chain it has "refused to advertise" on its networks, including Weather Channel and Comedy.TV.
"It's a question of including African American-owned businesses in the US economy," the tycoon said. Adding: "McDonald's takes billions from African American consumers and returns almost nothing . America's largest disparity between white American and black companies, and McDonald's is guilty of perpetuating it."
For its part, the chain's attorney Loretta Lynch (among other US attorney general during the Obama administration) has rejected the accusations, stating that Allen's claims are "without any foundation".
(Unioneonline / lf)