McDonald's Sued Over Hispanic Scholarship Program Because Non-Hispanics Can't Apply

The dust hasn't settled from McDonald's announcing an end to some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and now a group is suing the company over a scholarship program for Hispanic and Latino students.

In court documents, the plaintiff, American Alliance for Equal Rights, an anti-affirmative action group, said McDonald's scholarship program discriminated against students of other races and ethnicities by making them ineligible to funding.

McDonald's scholarship program has given $33 million to Hispanic and Latino college students.

The activist group is led by Edward Blum, who brought a case against Harvard University, which led the Supreme Court to remove affirmative action in college applications in 2023, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The lawsuit also targeted International Scholarship and Tuition Services Inc., the company that distributes the scholarship funds to individuals on behalf of McDonald's.

Corporations like Walmart, Meta, John Deere and Tractor Supply have rolled back their DEI programs after Donald Trump railed against them during his presidential campaign.

Last week, McDonald's announced changes to its DEI policies in a letter.

Chairman and chief executive officer Chris Kempczinski said McDonald's will focus more on "inclusion" instead of diversity, implementing a new concept called the "Golden Rule," which focuses on "treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect."

Kempczinski's concept features four "guiding principles."