McDonald’s Corp. $MCD has finalized a confidential settlement with Allen Media Group, ending a $10 billion discrimination lawsuit filed by media mogul Byron Allen. The complaint alleged that McDonald’s systematically excluded Black-owned media companies from its primary advertising channels by operating a segregated ad-spend structure, thereby violating federal and California civil rights laws. Filed in the U.S. District Court in California, the case gained traction in late 2023 after Judge Fernando Olguin declined to dismiss the suit. The court found plausible evidence suggesting McDonald’s maintained separate marketing budgets—one for the general market and another for “targeted” Black audiences. This dual-tier structure, the court noted, could constitute discriminatory allocation of corporate resources.