Ever since McDonald’s became a big thing in the United States, they have been trying to help out a lot of people in the country, and yes, including the students of the nation. Like, they were handing out cash to college students to help them with their studies through this thing/program called the HACER National Scholarship, which was mainly there to help Latino students. But as you can already tell, this program was just for the Hispanic students, and since race is a big discussion topic in the country, people were talking good and bad about this program as well. Just for a little bit of details here, you see, ever since 1985 (since this is the start of this program), they have paid somewhere around $33 million for more than 17,000 students. But the thing is, you’d have to have a Latino parent or student to apply. And sure enough, this McDonald’s Hispanic Heritage Lawsuit is challenging just that. So, let’s get to some details of that. Here we go.
So, Who Is Suing McDonald’s and Why?
Alright, straight up, well, this McDonald’s Hispanic Heritage Lawsuit is the result of some people or group called the Alliance for Equal Rights, or AAER for short, going to court with some complaints against McDonald’s. Why? Like, it sounds like a good thing that McDonald’s is handing out cash to college students, then what’s the problem? Well, it is actually the fact that this program is only for the Latino students out there. And yes, before that, just know that this group is run by a man named Edward Blum, who’s pretty famous for fighting rules that focus on race in schools or jobs. And if you have been following the big cases in the country, you’ll remember him being part of a big case in the Supreme Court Back in 2023, which was all about stopping colleges from using race to pick students and going merit-based. This mirrors cases like the Jason Arrington Lawsuit, where legal action is being used to demand accountability and systemic change, though in a completely different context. Talking about this current case, though, it was filed by the HACER Scholarship and said that this program was kinda unfair since only Latino students could apply for it, and all the other racial groups were just excluded from it.
What Action Did McDonald’s Take?
Well, so far, just like any other big company does for its reputation, sure enough, McDonald’s came up and said, “Let’s quit dragging it around in the courts and settle it so we can implement change.” They said that they only had good intentions with this program, and they just wanted to help out more and more students with their studies without burdening themselves with the financial side of things. Initially, anyone was allowed to apply; now, there are requirements. You know? Like, you have to provide proof of service to the Latino community, perhaps through volunteerism or leadership work.
Before the current elections in the United States, DEI was a big thing, and it still is in many states, but just like many other companies out there, McDonald’s is also changing things a bit, especially with all the diversity stuff it was involved in.
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Read related cases in our Other Major Lawsuits & Disputes section.
