A pair of Tennessee Black franchisees took their allegations of discrimination against McDonald's straight to the chain's corporate headquarters in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood Monday. The protest was led by Memphis, Tennessee multi-unit Black franchisees, James Byrd and his brother, Darrell Byrd, who filed a class-action against the QSR last fall, alleging the company has been "predatory" against Black franchisees, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Byrds were scheduled to meet with McDonald's leadership today. The headquarters protest is intended to last 90 days total and designed to cast light on the allegations the brothers made in their legal action.

McDonald's Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Reggie Miller issued a statement to the Sun-Times in response to the protest. It said:

"McDonald's takes its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion seriously and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We must go further and remain focused on serious action to accelerate meaningful and overdue societal change."

The Byrd's suit said the pair have been franchisees for decades. At one point the brothers said James Byrd owned 10 stores and Darrell Byrd owned four. Now however, the pair said the collectively own just four total.

James Byrd said some of his restaurants were closed after McDonald's "deemed them to be of no value," according to the newspaper, which he alleged also happened with other Black franchisees. He said while white operators have a cash flow annually of $2.9 million, Black operators annual cash flow is $2 million.

The Byrd brothers allege the company puts its Black operators in economically distressed, high-crime areas that are more costly to run, while they said white franchisees are not put in those situations.

Last week, former Major League Baseball player, Herbert Washington, also publicized similar claims after filing suit against the company in Youngstown, Ohio, alleging the company's discriminatory practices ultimately created a $700,000 sales gap between Black- and white-owned franchises, to the advantage of whites.

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