Quebec’s Superior Court has authorized a class-action lawsuit to proceed against McDonald’s restaurants.
The lawsuit is centred on the fast-food giant’s famed Happy Meal.
Montreal lawyer Joey Zukran contends that because the meal is marketed to children under the age of 13, it is a “flagrant violation” of Quebec’s consumer protection laws.
Zukran is arguing that McDonald’s marketing manipulates children to push their parents to buy the products with ads inside the restaurants placed at eye-level for children.
According to the statement Zukran released on Wednesday, anyone who purchased a Happy Meal or a toy as of Nov. 15, 2013 for a child under 13 who was present inside a McDonald’s restaurant “during an advertising campaign directed at children taking place inside the restaurant” is eligible to join.
Zukran said there could be hundreds of thousands of claimants, but also warned that the lawsuit could take years to proceed through the courts.
McDonald's issued a statement about the class-action lawsuit being greenlit on Wednesday evening.
The statement reads: McDonald’s Canada has received the ruling and plans to examine it carefully. We are aware of our obligations under Quebec’s advertising laws and reiterate that we do not believe this class action has merit.
