Herb Washington was a world-class sprinter, a four-time All-American at Michigan State and a World Series champion with the Oakland Athletics. He’s the only player in MLB history to appear in more than 100 games without taking an at-bat or playing the field, as a designated “pinch-runner.”
For the past 40 years, Washington has been a McDonald’s franchisee. But on Tuesday, Washington filed a civil rights lawsuit against the company in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division, in an attempt to hold the fast-food chain accountable for its “racial discrimination and retaliation against him as a Black franchisee.”
A few years ago, Washington was McDonald’s largest Black franchisee in the country, owning 23 stores in 2017. He claims that McDonald’s has redlined him, and other Black franchisees, into impoverished neighborhoods, with the knowledge that these stores would produce less profit. He…
