Maybe next time this couple should just stick to ordering the McNuggets...
A $5 million Florida lawsuit filed by two McDonald’s customers was dismissed last week by U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas.
Judge Dimitrouleas dismissed the lawsuit “with prejudice,” granting a motion by McDonald's, meaning the plaintiffs are not allowed to file the lawsuit again at a later date.
In May, the South Florida couple, Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner, filed the suit complaining they had been charged the full price of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese... even though they requested plain hamburgers sans the dairy.
Kissner and Werner argued that hamburgers and cheeseburgers are different prices on the McDonald’s menu. When they ordered a Quarter Pounder without the cheese, however, they were still forced to pay the same price.
According to the lawsuit, McDonald’s used to sell four different Quarter Pounder options, two of which came without cheese and cost between 30 to 90 cents less.
“At some point,” however, the fast food chain stopped selling the different variations and currently only lists the one Quarter Pounder with Cheese on the menu.
Despite the couple’s claims of having “suffered injury as a result of their purchases because they were overcharged,” the judge did not feel the plaintiffs proved being harmed by having to pay more.
The judge also called Kissner and Werner’s attempt to say the hamburger is only available with cheese is “absurd and fails.”
The judge’s dismissal went on to say, “Under any common sense analysis, there is no market for a customer to come into a McDonald’s restaurant and order a slice or two of ‘cheese’ as a product that is separate, distinct, and independent from any other product or menu item. Nor is there a separate product market for a customer to order a slice of tomato, or a slice of lettuce, or a slice of pickle, etc.”
The county clerk has closed the case -- and the Hamburglar verdict has been rested.