Floridians file $5m lawsuit against McDonald's for being forced to pay for unwanted cheese in Quarter Pounders

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Two Floridians are suing McDonald's for $5.4million because they are being forced to pay for cheese they've had removed from their Quarter Pounders with Cheese.

Court records revealed that Cynthia Kissner, of Broward County, and Leonard Werner, of Miami-Dade, filed a class-action lawsuit over the cheese charging issue in federal court on May 8.

According to the lawsuit, McDonald's had previously offered four different burgers in the Quarter Pounder category. Prices for those burgers differed from between 30 to 90 cents, based on whether or not the burgers had cheese on them, the Miami Herald reports.

However, McDonald's "at some point" reduced the Quarter Pounder offerings on the restaurant menu, paring it down to just two options. Now, only the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese are listed on the menu.

Restaurant customers who want the old Quarter Pounder without cheese option are left with having to order a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and customizing it so it prepared sans cheese.

The lawsuit states that in order for customers "to be able to purchase their desired product" — the cheese-free Quarter Pounder — they "continue to be overcharged for these products' by 'being forced to pay for two slices of cheese, which they do not want, order, or receive."

Complicating matters is the fact that McDonald's now apparently gives mobile app users the option of ordering a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a plain Quarter Pounder.

The lawsuit claims that Kissner and Werner "have suffered injury as a result of their purchases because they were overcharged, and were required to pay for cheese, which is not a component of either a Quarter Pounder or a Double Quarter Pounder, that they did not want and did not receive."

The lawsuit also claims that the fast food giant is "being unjustly enriched' because it's receiving payment for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but only handing over a plain Quarter Pounder.

Andrew Lavin, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kissner and Werner, told the Miami Herald that because McDonald's spent years selling a plain Quarter Pounder alongside a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, it is clear that cheese is an add-on to the base product.

"Which is why they should not have to be compelled to pay for cheese when they don't want it, especially when they do offer" a plain Quarter Pounder via the app, Lavin said.

McDonald's has 21 days to file a response to the suit.

In an email to USA Today, McDonald's said, "We do not believe the claims in this lawsuit have legal merit."

McDonald's also pointed to the fact that "The advertised Quarter Pounder burger comes with cheese. We try to accommodate our customers' requests by allowing them to customize their orders, such as a Quarter Pounder with no cheese."