Between dealing with the fallout of a serious E. coli outbreak, the relaunch of the iconic McRib, and the unveiling of its brand-new value menu, the past few months have been a remarkably eventful time for McDonald’s. And to top it off, the fast-food giant has now found itself at the center of a legal battle as well.
A recently filed class action lawsuit accuses McDonald’s of falsely advertising that orange juice is included in the price of certain breakfast meals, Top Class Actions reported. The filing claims that McDonald’s menu boards have pictures showing orange juice alongside one or more breakfast combos with set prices. But customers who ask for orange juice alongside these advertised meals are hit with an unexpected surcharge, the lawsuit alleges.
“McDonald’s deceptively misleads consumers by advertising breakfast combination meals to include an orange juice on its menu boards offered at a fixed price,” the filing reads.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit say that if they’d been aware of the surcharge, they wouldn’t have purchased the orange juice to begin with or requested a smaller size so they could pay less money. This has become such a point of contention for some that they’ve altered their eating habits at McDonald’s.
“One or more plaintiffs now no longer purchase breakfast or orange juice from McDonald’s because of their negative experience,” the lawsuit says.
The group is looking to represent consumers across the country who paid these orange juice surcharges on McDonald’s breakfast meals. They’re also looking to represent subclasses of customers from Nevada, California, and Florida, where the plaintiffs allege McDonald’s violated consumer protection laws.
A McDonald’s representative did not immediately respond to our queries for comment on the lawsuit and its allegations.
McDonald’s isn’t the only major fast-food chain to recently find itself embroiled in legal trouble. A class action lawsuit filed in late 2024 accuses Arby’s of shrinking its French fries and drinks without notifying customers or adjusting its prices. The customer behind the lawsuit—Melissa Nelson of Queens, N.Y.—is looking to represent New York residents who purchased fries and beverages from Arby’s before the alleged size change.
“Arby’s deceptively continues to sell its fries and beverages in smaller sizes which are now substantially smaller than the old sizes,” the lawsuit reads.
Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Read more about Zoe
