McDonald's Muslim Suit In Michigan Settled For $700,000

A judge finalized a $700,000 settlement Wednesday between McDonald's Corp. and a Muslim community in Michigan over claims that the food-chain falsely advertised its food as prepared, according to Islamic law.

Ahmed Ahmed, the Dearborn Heights man who represents plaintiffs in the class-action suit, claimed he bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at the restaurant but found it wasn't halal, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God's name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.

The McDonald's restaurant chain and one of its franchise owners agreed in January to the tentative settlement that would be shared by Ahmed, as well as a Muslim-run Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers, according to AP.

"As a firm, we've borne the burden of litigating this case for over 19 months, and have paid a steep price in time and money to do so," Kassem Dakhlallah, an attorney whose firm represents Ahmed and the class, told the AP in an email. "We are happy that we are able to finalize this case and get the settlement funds paid to the Huda Clinic to be used for medical care for the community, and to the Arab American National Museum to be used to allow our young ones to continue their educations after high school."

Dakhlallah and Ahmed teamed up to form an investigation against the McDonald's in Michigan.

 They wrote a letter after their investigation that said they "confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory" that the restaurant had sold non-halal food "on many occasions."

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."