New Lawsuit Claims McDonald’s Drive-Thru Violates Americans with Disabilities Act
By: Max Kellogg | Legal Staff Writer
On May 26, 2016, Scott Magee from Metairie, Louisiana, filed a class-action complaint against McDonald’s Corporation for alleged systemic violations committed by the fast-food chain against blind persons.
The lawsuit arose because Magee, who is blind, approached a local McDonald’s drive-thru window on foot after the restaurant’s lobby was closed last August. The restaurant refused service to Magee, laughed at him and told him to leave.
McDonald’s Corporation late-night drive-thru policy provides that franchisees cannot have their employees serve pedestrians on foot, should the customer come to the window, Magee argues “despite being accessible to the general public, McDonald’s drive-thrus lack any meaningful accommodation for the blind…because McDonald’s does not permit pedestrians to order from its drive-thru windows, the blind are totally precluded from accessing Defendant’s products during late-night hours.”
The suit claims a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the two-count suit seeks injunctive “auxiliary aids or services” to accommodate the blind, plus an unspecified amount of monetary damages. Magee’s goal is that all blind customers are given the opportunity to access the late-night services offered by McDonald’s drive-thru.
U.S. District Court Judge Joan B. Gottschall has given McDonald’s until the 17th of June to respond to the complaint.
The case is: Magee v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 1:16-cv-05652 (N.D. Ill.)
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