McDonald's settles Mich. suit over Islamic diet
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — McDonald's and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community to settle allegations a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.
McDonald's and Finley's Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.
Ahmed's attorney, Kassem Daklallah, told The Associated Press on Monday that he's "thrilled" with the preliminary deal that's expected to be finalized March 1. McDonald's and Finley's Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.
The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it wasn't halal — meaning it didn't meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.
Daklallah said there are only two McDonald's in the United States that sell halal products and both are in Dearborn, which has one of the nation's largest Arab and Muslim communities. Overall, the Detroit area is home to about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities.
The locations advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches and they have to get those products from an approved halal provider, Daklallah said. He said there was no evidence of problems on the production side, but he alleges that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold non-halal products when it ran out of halal.
Daklallah said he was approached by Ahmed, and they conducted an investigation. A letter sent to McDonald's Corp. and Finley's Management by Daklallah's firm said Ahmed had "confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory" that the restaurant had sold non-halal food "on many occasions."
After they received no response to the letter, Daklallah said, they filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in November 2011 as part of a class action.
The AP left messages Monday afternoon for attorneys representing the corporation and the franchise.
In the settlement notice, Finley's Management said it "has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labeled, stored, refrigerated, and cooked in halal-only areas." The company added it trains its employees on preparing halal food and "requires strict adherence to the process."
He said although Ahmed believes McDonald's was negligent, there was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers.
"McDonald's from the very beginning stepped up and took this case very seriously," Daklallah said. "They made it clear they wanted to resolve this. They got ahead of the problem."
The lawsuit covers anyone who bought the halal-advertised products from the Ford Road restaurant and another Dearborn McDonald's with a different owner between September 2005 and last Friday. Since that would be impossible to determine, Daklallah said both sides agreed to provide money to community-based charities that benefit members of this group.
The other location on Michigan Avenue wasn't a defendant or a focus of the investigation, Daklallah said.
He said the final hearing will ultimately determine who gets what and how much, but roughly $275,000 is expected to go to the Huda Clinic, about $150,000 to the museum, $230,000 to attorneys and $20,000 to Ahmed.
Daklallah said he believes it's the first lawsuit of its kind related to McDonald's and halal food.
In 2002, McDonald's agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu and other groups in the U.S. to settle lawsuits that accused the chain of mislabeling french fries and hash browns as vegetarian. The vegetable oil used to prepare the items had contained traces of beef for flavoring purposes.
McDonald's and Finley's Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.
Ahmed's attorney, Kassem Daklallah, told The Associated Press on Monday that he's "thrilled" with the preliminary deal that's expected to be finalized March 1. McDonald's and Finley's Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.
The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it wasn't halal — meaning it didn't meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.
Daklallah said there are only two McDonald's in the United States that sell halal products and both are in Dearborn, which has one of the nation's largest Arab and Muslim communities. Overall, the Detroit area is home to about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities.
The locations advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches and they have to get those products from an approved halal provider, Daklallah said. He said there was no evidence of problems on the production side, but he alleges that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold non-halal products when it ran out of halal.
Daklallah said he was approached by Ahmed, and they conducted an investigation. A letter sent to McDonald's Corp. and Finley's Management by Daklallah's firm said Ahmed had "confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory" that the restaurant had sold non-halal food "on many occasions."
After they received no response to the letter, Daklallah said, they filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in November 2011 as part of a class action.
The AP left messages Monday afternoon for attorneys representing the corporation and the franchise.
In the settlement notice, Finley's Management said it "has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labeled, stored, refrigerated, and cooked in halal-only areas." The company added it trains its employees on preparing halal food and "requires strict adherence to the process."
He said although Ahmed believes McDonald's was negligent, there was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers.
"McDonald's from the very beginning stepped up and took this case very seriously," Daklallah said. "They made it clear they wanted to resolve this. They got ahead of the problem."
The lawsuit covers anyone who bought the halal-advertised products from the Ford Road restaurant and another Dearborn McDonald's with a different owner between September 2005 and last Friday. Since that would be impossible to determine, Daklallah said both sides agreed to provide money to community-based charities that benefit members of this group.
The other location on Michigan Avenue wasn't a defendant or a focus of the investigation, Daklallah said.
He said the final hearing will ultimately determine who gets what and how much, but roughly $275,000 is expected to go to the Huda Clinic, about $150,000 to the museum, $230,000 to attorneys and $20,000 to Ahmed.
Daklallah said he believes it's the first lawsuit of its kind related to McDonald's and halal food.
In 2002, McDonald's agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu and other groups in the U.S. to settle lawsuits that accused the chain of mislabeling french fries and hash browns as vegetarian. The vegetable oil used to prepare the items had contained traces of beef for flavoring purposes.
I wonder if those islamic pos invoked Gods name before they tried io kill the 14 yo girl, or the others in that car, or slaughtering all those people in NY.
The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it wasn't halal â meaning it didn't meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.******ha ha ha ha, gotcha! Chalk up one for the Infidels.
Sorry, but, corporations should get hammered for false advertising. It is what it is.
Good grief! You don't like it, eat pork!
Sounds like this is similar to people of the Jewish faith and "kosher" food... if I remember right, there are very specific product requirements and processes for that, too...Â
I guess the bottom line is, if McDonald's (or any other restaurant) wants to advertise and sell its products to a particular clientele, and those customers have specific requirements with regard to their food and its preparation, then the restaurant and its suppliers need to comply...
 @margay1 : I am guessing it is hard to eat out if you have dietary restrictions. Most of the people I know who have faith based restrictions eat at home rather than risk "non-compliance" by the vendor.
HOWEVER: if advertised ... it better happen, huh? (I really wonder how a chicken is followed from farm to processor to market.)
So much for acclimating to American culture........
 @kramr Do we expect those of the Jewish faith to give up Kosher to become "American"?  What's the difference?  The bottom line is that McDonald's lied about what they were serving.
@Emi-Lynn   I was saying that more in general than specifically to the Mickey D's situation.
If you read about how Dearborn is overall and what the culture there is, my comment makes perfect sense. Â
 @kramr Whats more American then to sue?
Many animal rights groups consider Halal a form of animal torture because it involves Exsanguination. I am offended by this method, maybe I'll file a class action. Who's with me?
In the name of Allah here is your pink slime that we like to call beef......in the name of Allah here is your white slime that we press into the form of a nugget and call chicken.....see that is soooo much better now!
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You would be better off eating bacon!
They need to go back to where they came from.
Pure none sense.
If I had a McDonalds I would keep serving the regular menu. If some muslim didn't want what I sold then they can move on.
@RalphCramden if you had read the article, it had toning to do with what was being served, but rather how it was prepared. The owner claimed the food was prepared one way when in actuality it wasn't. Therefore, they were guilty of false advertising and were caught on it. I say good for the plaintiff.
@Ramsesthegreat ........let 'me eat c r a p !
 @RalphCramden  While I completely agree with your post........  You have to remember this is Dearborn, serving a regular Mickey D menu would make you a very lonely  owner.Â
@kramr @RalphCramden As long as they had oily fries, it wouldn't matter!
 @kramrÂ
That is true. Better just move to another location and let the muslims have the place. They can set up sharia law and kill women, gays, infidels, and have a bomb making school for those who are too ugly to get a women in this life.
 @musiclover    @kramrÂ
muslims add nothing to society. They want to live in the dark ages and oppress everyone.
@RalphCramden @kramr Yep, and they can have their own butcher shop and fast-food eatery, too - that way, they can serve what they want to! While we're at it, build a wall around the place and call it a ghetto - we won't go there, and they can't come out! And yes, I'm absolutely serious!