DEARBORN — The McDonald’s non-halal meat lawsuit has gone through twists and turns in the last couple of months. But the controversial case may finally be coming to a close as the public notice period, initially extended for class members in March, has come to a close with little to no objection, according to law firm Jaafar & Mahdi Law Group, P.C., who represented the class plaintiffs in the case.

Misinformation regarding the case caused Judge Macdonald of the Wayne County Circuit Court to extend the public notice period for the settlement. Dearborn Attorney Majed Moughni, who had publicly disapproved of the settlement, rallied Facebook users on the Dearborn Area Community Members Page, urging them to sign forms if they wanted to intervene into the settlement when the deadline was originally set in February. 

But Judge Macdonald took issue with Moughni’s actions and placed him under a gag order at a later hearing, believing he had been spreading false information. After much controversy regarding his First Amendment rights, the Judge agreed to remove Moughni’s gag order, as well as make changes to the public notice and extend the period for public objections to April 8. Now, Mahdi Law Group P.C. is looking forward to the next step. 

“We are very happy that this case is going to be concluded and the class members are going to benefit from the settlements. The distractions were simply that, a side show. The case was a long fought victory for the community and we’re happy that it ended up being concluded with less than .1 percent of class members objecting to it,” Jaafar & Mahdi Law Group, P.C. stated.

The parties that did file objections during the extended public notice period are not expected to affect the final settlement approval. McDonald’s Corp. agreed to donate $700,000 for the potential selling of non-halal chicken at the McDonald’s located on Ford Rd. $20,000 of that money is expected to be given to plaintiff Ahmed Ahmed, the original complainant on the case. 

$274,000 will be given to the HUDA clinic in Detroit, which provides services to people with no insurance. $150,000 will also be dispensed to the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. 

The final approval of the settlement is expected to take place on April 17, at 10:00 a.m. on the 11th floor of the Wayne County Circuit Court City-County Building at 2 Woodward Avenue,  Detroit.