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McDonald's to pay $700,000 in halal lawsuit
Jihad Watch ^ | January 21, 2013

Posted on 01/22/2013 1:31:08 PM PST by NYer

"There was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers." So why the $700,000 payout?

Pamela Geller asks: "So meat producers in the US who are selling unlabeled meat that is halal should be the target of a multi-million dollar lawsuit, no?"

And David Wood observes:"Some Dearborn Muslims may have been given non-halal chicken at McDonalds. It could have been worse, however. They could have been thrown in jail for answering questions, as we were at the 2010 Arab Festival. But apparently what happens to Christians doesn't matter in Dearborn."

"McDonald's settles Mich. suit over Islamic diet," by Jeff Karoub for the Associated Press, January 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — McDonald's and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community to settle allegations a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.

McDonald's and Finley's Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.

Ahmed's attorney, Kassem Dakhlallah, told The Associated Press on Monday that he's "thrilled" with the preliminary deal that's expected to be finalized March 1. McDonald's and Finley's Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.

The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald's but found it wasn't halal — meaning it didn't meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.

Dakhlallah said there are only two McDonald's in the United States that sell halal products and both are in Dearborn, which has one of the nation's largest Arab and Muslim communities. Overall, the Detroit area is home to about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities.

The locations advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches and they have to get those products from an approved halal provider, Dakhlallah said. He said there was no evidence of problems on the production side, but he alleges that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold non-halal products when it ran out of halal.

Dakhlallah said he was approached by Ahmed, and they conducted an investigation. A letter sent to McDonald's Corp. and Finley's Management by Dakhlallah's firm said Ahmed had "confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory" that the restaurant had sold non-halal food "on many occasions."

After they received no response to the letter, Dakhlallah said, they filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in November 2011 as part of a class action.

The AP left messages Monday afternoon for attorneys representing the corporation and the franchise.

In the settlement notice, Finley's Management said it "has a carefully designed system for preparing and serving halal such that halal chicken products are labeled, stored, refrigerated, and cooked in halal-only areas." The company added it trains its employees on preparing halal food and "requires strict adherence to the process."

He said although Ahmed believes McDonald's was negligent, there was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers....



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: halal; islam; mcdonalds
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To: Conscience of a Conservative

Should they change their corporate name to “MeccaDonalds?”


21 posted on 01/22/2013 2:55:48 PM PST by Ax
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To: NYer

If I ran any restaurant, I would put a big fat disclaimer on menus and a few other prominent places, along the following lines:

“Although we strive to serve the healthiest and purest foods to out customers, we cannot and do not certify that any of our items satisfies the dietary laws of various religious faiths. Please look to your own faith documents, your trusted clergy and your conscience in deciding whether to consume the foods we are proud to serve.”

In plain English: We ain’t promising it’s halal, or Kosher, or whatever.


22 posted on 01/22/2013 2:58:49 PM PST by pogo101
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To: NYer
The Islamists picked up a page from the anti-smoking Nazis.

"If you don't want it, don't go there" is never enough for these people (either mob).

23 posted on 01/22/2013 3:15:02 PM PST by elkfersupper ( Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: elkfersupper
"If you don't want it, don't go there" is never enough for these people (either mob).

"If you don't want it, don't go there" does not apply to this situation. The McDonald's in question specifically advertised that they served Halal meat. I agree with everyone here that McD's shouldn't be pandering to the Halal crowd (if you can call less than 1% of the population a "crowd"), but once they started advertising Halal meat, failure to provide it (and substituting non-Halal meat) is false advertising at best, fraud at worst.

24 posted on 01/22/2013 3:44:12 PM PST by Conscience of a Conservative
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To: Venturer

next will be allah says we cant have halal chicken prepared in a kitchen that prepares bacon/
thus the basis for a new lawsuit.

Macdonald’s response should be that’s our menu. Good bye.


25 posted on 01/22/2013 4:19:54 PM PST by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: NYer

Whenever we go to a store or restaurant, we need to ask if they serve/sell halal food, and if they do, we must leave. If they don’t we must make a purchase.


26 posted on 01/22/2013 4:27:27 PM PST by gspurlock (http://www.backyardfence.wordpress.com)
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To: Conscience of a Conservative
The McDonald's in question specifically advertised that they served Halal meat.

Well, I guess that's another situation. Come to think of it, I say a prayer to myself every time I decide to kill something to eat.

27 posted on 01/22/2013 4:41:30 PM PST by elkfersupper ( Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: Conscience of a Conservative
The McDonald's in question specifically advertised that they served Halal meat.

Well, I guess that's another situation. Come to think of it, I say a prayer to myself every time I decide to kill something to eat.

28 posted on 01/22/2013 4:41:48 PM PST by elkfersupper ( Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: kitkat

Thanks , didn’t know that .
I don’t eat out much and it’s just another reason not to stop there .


29 posted on 01/22/2013 8:47:15 PM PST by Lera (Proverbs 29:2)
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To: NYer

Are the McRibs halal? Or how about the bacon or sausage with breakfast?


30 posted on 01/23/2013 11:24:40 AM PST by rfreedom4u (I have a copy of the Constitution! And I'm not afraid to use it!)
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