Overview
- The proposed nationwide class action was filed Friday in federal court in Chicago by Michael Thomas, who says he noticed inconsistent prices between nearby McDonald’s restaurants.
- The complaint alleges McDonald’s used an AI‑enhanced pricing portal that collected nonpublic, store‑level sales data and gave franchisees location‑specific recommendations that could align prices across competing outlets.
- Reporting identifies Tiger Analytics as the vendor behind the machine‑learning system and says the tool estimates customer willingness to pay and signals price sensitivity for nearly 14,000 U.S. restaurants.
- McDonald’s rejects the claims and says franchisees set menu prices, that the pricing tool has been available for more than a decade and that recommendations are optional with uneven franchise adoption.
- The case is at the pleadings stage in the U.S. District Court in Chicago and could trigger regulatory scrutiny and follow‑on litigation over whether centralized data and algorithmic suggestions amount to unlawful coordination, with direct implications for consumer prices and franchise control.