McDonald’s sued over Latino scholarship program

McDonald’s is being sued over a program that provides scholarships to Latino students, a move that comes days after the fast-food giant dropped some of its programs. diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The American Alliance for Equal Rights, which challenges racial bias and discrimination, claims that McDonald’s HACER program discriminates against some high school students.

last week McDonald’s said it will adjust some of its DEI policies that critics see as “woke.”

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The Fort Worth location serving as the pilot for the automated program. (CREDIT: McDonald’s Corporate / Fox News)

“When corporations say they will replace controversial and polarizing programs with more neutral ones, that doesn’t always mean the company has undergone any significant change,” AAER President Edward Bloom said in a statement. that heralds policy changes is often little more than a public relations exercise.”

“Surprisingly, after what McDonald’s describes as a comprehensive civil rights audit of its programs and policies, the Hispanic-only HACER scholarship was not cited as a violation of our nation’s civil rights laws,” he added.

Changes At McDonald’s, that includes scrapping its “ambitious representation goals,” getting rid of its DEI pledge for suppliers, renaming its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team, and ending outside surveys.

“But when McDonald’s announced this new commitment to treating ‘everyone’ fairly, it didn’t mean everyone. Even after its civil rights audit, McDonald’s decided to continue a program that blatantly discriminates against high school students based on their ethnicity.” the claim states:

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McDonald’s said it began mulling the changes months ago, acknowledging it was looking at the legal landscape after the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling against affirmative action, as well as similar moves by other companies.

FOX Business reached out to AAER and McDonald’s.As part of the program, McDonald’s is awarding $100,000 to 30 students who have at least one parent of Hispanic or Latino heritage.

“We are in the process of reviewing the complaint and will respond accordingly. However, McDonald’s announced its evolution to our engagement efforts last week, and part of that process will be reviewing plans, working with our franchisees, as applicable, to ensure these plans are consistent.” are our vision moving forward,” the company said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The suit stemmed from an Arkansas high school girlI who was looking for college scholarships, according to the suit.

“McDonald’s gives out unusually large scholarships (up to $100,000) through a program called HACER. Does McDonald’s only give them to Hispanics? As a non-Hispanic, Arkansan cannot apply : Despite financial need. Despite the inability to choose or control one’s ethnic heritage.”

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AAER is asking a judge to issue a temporary injunction before the company announces this year’s awards in February.

FOX Business’ Breck Dumas contributed to this report.