McDonald's wants 'nonsense' cheese lawsuit dismissed
If two South Florida McDonald’s customers’ class action lawsuit against the fast food giant is allowed to proceed because they are upset they have to pay for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese when they don’t want the cheese, it would create “utter chaos” for the retail food industry.
That was McDonald’s response in papers filed Friday to a lawsuit filed on May 8 by Cynthia Kissner of Broward and Leonard Werner of Miami-Dade in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale.
Kissner and Werner complained that they have been charged the full price of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, one of McDonald’s signature sandwiches, even after they asked that the burger be modified to hold the cheese.
The class action suit, filed on their behalf by Andrew Lavin of the Miami-based Lavin Law Group, asks for at least $5 million. The suit claims the Quarter Pounder used to be sold in cheese and no cheese versions. The price differential is between 30 cents to 90 cents more for the cheese version.
Prices for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese vary by franchise, but average about $4.20 for the single and $6.20 for the double.
The McDonald’s company’s response, filed by Jennifer Olmedo-Rodriguez of the Miami law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, calls the complaint “nonsense.”
McDonald’s, based in Delaware, asks that the Fort Lauderdale court dismiss the suit on the grounds it doesn’t even offer a Quarter Pounder without cheese as a regular menu item.
Lavin’s suit countered that the sandwich is available sans cheese when ordered off McDonald’s app.
McDonald’s disputes Lavin’s claim and says Werner and Kissner have suffered no injuries.
“Common sense and common human experience dictates that if a customer enters a restaurant and orders a listed menu item, ... but elects to customize it to meet dietary restrictions or preferences, such as by omitting the mayonnaise, the restaurant has no duty to modify the listed price of that item to reflect the value of the mayonnaise,” according to the response.
