The Strange Reason McDonald's Was Sued Over Its Cheese
It is greatly understandable that fights over cheese may arise from time to time. A battle to the death for the last wedge of golden nourishment at the grocery store is perfectly acceptable behavior. Any judge would surely understand the uncontrollable urges suffered by someone desperate to grab a pack of cozy, creamy cheese.
Although such aggressive scenarios are fortunately unlikely to occur very often (unless you count the cheese layered onto late-night pizzas — city center brawls will start over anything, as Dayton Daily News reports), cheese has made an appearance in a legal drama, featuring McDonald's at its heart.
The saga revolved around a menu listing for McDonald's famous Quarter Pounders. Claimants Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner sued the meaty corporation after receiving burgers with added cheese that they didn't ask for. According to them, the menu stated that cheese-free Quarter Pounders were available, but they were forced to pay for the more expensive variety that was laden with cheese (via Fox Business).
McDonald's believed the lawsuit would be a disaster for the food industry
The hardship felt by Kissner and Werner was an incredible 30 to 90 cents extra per burger — so, the natural response was to sue McDonald's for a very reasonable $5 million (via Inc.). Lawyers for the Golden Arches, as reported by Inc., had described the lawsuit as "nonsense" and explained that it would turn the food industry into "chaos."
It is unlikely to come as a surprise to anyone that the case was eventually thrown out. A judgment was passed in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which concluded that the claimants had no justification for suing McDonald's because they could not prove they were sufficiently affected by the cheese crisis. They were further told they could not bring such an action again (via Miami Herald).
As part of the suit, Kissner and Werner suggested that customers had actually been "forced" to purchase the burgers with the trespassing cheese (via Vice). As tortuous experiences go, being ordered to eat burgers dripping with cheese at a leisurely pace doesn't seem too bad at all.