Several dozen former McDonald’s franchisees sued the burger giant, alleging it unfairly treated Black owners by selling them subpar stores and failing to support their businesses.

The lawsuit, filed 31 August in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accused McDonald’s of steering Black franchisees to restaurants in undesirable locations in inner-cities for years. Those restaurants were destined to fail, and often had lower sales and higher operating costs, according to the lawsuit.