Customers Sue McDonald’s For $5 Million Over Unwanted Quarter Pounder Cheese — Judge Throws Out Lawsuit

A couple from Florida claims McDonald’s were profiteering by charging full price for quarter pounders with cheese — that didn’t actually contain any cheese.

A lawsuit against McDonald’s where two customers alleged they were charged for cheese in a Quarter Pounder burger without cheese has been dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas in Florida on Friday.

Two McDonald’s customers were seeking $5 million in compensation after they requested a Quarter Pounder without cheese and were still charged the same price as a quarter pounder with cheese. according to Fox News. The lawsuit was filed in May by a South Florida couple, Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner. They alleged that McDonald’s was profiting off charging customers full price for their Quarter Pounders even though they had requested the product without cheese.

The plaintiffs also claimed that, although there had originally been four Quarter Pounder options on the menu at McDonald’s, two of which featured no cheese and cost between 30 to 90 cents less than the Quarter Pounder with Cheese options, the fast-food chain had removed all but one option. As a result of this, the couple was forced to order their burger of choice without the cheese. In return, they claimed that McDonald’s continued to charge the same price as the burger with cheese.

“McDonald’s is being unjustly enriched by these practices because it receives payment for cheese it does not deliver to its customers,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox News.

The judge on the case felt that the couple had not “suffered injury as a result of their purchases because they were overcharged,” and dismissed the case. He also disputed the claim that McDonald’s only offers the one option, in regard to the Quarter Pounder menu item. He said that two options, one with cheese and one without, are clearly available for purchase. The two items also display different prices, indicating that the lower costing item was the one that did not contain cheese, so their claim regarding the price difference was “absurd and fails.”

“Under any common sense analysis, there is no market for a customer to come into a McDonald’s restaurant and order a slice or two of ‘cheese’ as a product that is separate, distinct, and independent from any other product or menu item. Nor is there a separate product market for a customer to order a slice of tomato, or a slice of lettuce, or a slice of pickle, etc.”

According to the Miami Herald, the case was dismissed “with prejudice” and the country clerk has closed the case. This means that the couple cannot lodge another lawsuit pertaining to this one in the future.