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Thomas v McDonalds USA

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Case Information
Case name Michael Thomas v. McDonald’s USA, LLC and McDonald’s Corporation[1]
Court U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois[1]
Docket 1:26-cv-12149 (complaint, Document 1)[1]
Filed October 2, 2026[1]
Judge(s) Not identified in the sources reviewed.
Plaintiffs Michael Thomas, on behalf of himself and a proposed class; no class certification verified[1]
Defendants McDonald’s USA, LLC and McDonald’s Corporation[1]
Case type Proposed consumer antitrust and consumer-protection class action[1]
Claims / issues Alleged algorithmic price coordination and exchange of nonpublic franchisee pricing data under Sherman Act § 1, Illinois Antitrust Act and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act[1]
Status Complaint filed October 2, 2026; proposed class and claims await judicial determination[1]

Thomas v. McDonald’s USA, LLC is a proposed consumer class action over McDonald’s AI-assisted menu-pricing recommendations. Michael Thomas filed the complaint on October 2, 2026. He alleges that McDonald’s collects nonpublic transaction and pricing data from independently operated restaurants and uses a central machine-learning tool to recommend menu prices across competing locations.[1]

Allegations and requested relief

Thomas alleges that the shared tool and alleged pressure on franchisees to follow its recommendations amount to price coordination in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Illinois law. The complaint includes separate Sherman Act price-fixing and competitively sensitive information-exchange counts, plus Illinois antitrust and consumer-fraud claims. It seeks certification of a proposed class, damages, legal fees and an injunction against the alleged arrangement.[1] These are the plaintiff’s allegations in an initiating pleading.

McDonald’s response and procedural status

In an October 1 public statement about its pricing tools, McDonald’s said franchisees independently set menu prices and that its restaurant-specific recommendations do not set or change prices.[2] After the lawsuit became public, McDonald’s told the Associated Press it would defend the case and disputed the complaint’s characterization of the tool.[3] The complaint is the latest verified procedural event in the sources reviewed; a class-certification decision or ruling on the merits has not been identified.

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Thomas v. McDonald’s USA, LLC, No. 1:26-cv-12149, class-action complaint, Document 1, filed October 2, 2026; all 31 pages reviewed October 6, 2026.
  2. ↑ McDonald’s, “Separating Fact from Fiction: AI Does Not Set Prices at McDonald’s,” October 1, 2026; full statement reviewed.
  3. ↑ Associated Press, “McDonald’s sued over AI tool that recommends prices to US franchisees,” October 6, 2026; full article reviewed.
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