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Cohen v. McDonald's Corp.

Case Date: 02/13/2004
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-02-2110 Rel

 

No. 1-02-2110

MARC S. COHEN, and similarly
situated parties,

                  Plaintiff-Appellant,

          v.

McDONALD'S CORPORATION, and its
franchisees, and McDONALD'S
RESTAURANTS OF ILLINOIS,

                  Defendants-Appellees.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County.



02 CH 2705


Honorable
John K. Madden,
Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE REID delivered the opinion of the court:

The appellant, Marc S. Cohen, appeals from the trial court'sorder that dismissed his class action lawsuit for consumer fraudand deceptive business practices and common law fraud against defendants McDonald's Corporation and its Franchisees, andMcDonald's Restaurants of Illinois (McDonald's). Cohen'scomplaint alleged that McDonald's violated federal nutritionallabeling regulations with regard to its Happy Meal® menu item. On appeal, Cohen argues that the trial court erred because: (1)his cause of action is not barred by the doctrines of preemptionor primary jurisdiction and (2) his complaint sufficiently stateda cause of action. For the reasons that follow, we affirm thedecision of the trial court.

BACKGROUND

On February 5, 2002, Cohen filed a two-count class actionlawsuit against McDonald's for: (1) consumer fraud and deceptivebusiness practices and (2) common law fraud. His complaintalleges that one of the food products that McDonald's sells isthe Happy Meal®. A Happy Meal® consists of a McDonald's foodentree, a small order of french fries, a small drink and a toy. Around 1990, McDonald's developed a marketing strategy to expandHappy Meal® sales by targeting children ages one to three. Aspart of this marketing strategy, McDonald's entered into anagreement with Fisher-Price. The agreement provided that Fisher-Price would design toys, for children ages one to three, to bedistributed with the Happy Meal®.

In 1995 McDonald's began making nutritional information forits food products available to its customers in the followingways: (1) displaying documents known as "McDonald's NutritionFacts" on posters and signs in its restaurants, (2) making copiesof the McDonald's Nutrition Facts for customers on 8