Media mogul Byron Allen had a victory in his $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against McDonald’s. A federal judge in California ruled that the case, which accuses the fast-food giant of racial stereotyping by excluding Black-owned media from the bulk of its advertising budget, can proceed to trial, Fox Business reported.

U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin deemed the matter a “close call” but concluded that Allen’s allegations are best addressed by a jury. “At a minimum, this is the type of case where the trial court is permitted… to deny even a well-supported motion for summary judgment, if it believes the case will benefit from a full hearing,” Olguin wrote in his 25-page order.

The lawsuit, filed in 2021, claims McDonald’s violated federal and California civil rights laws by relegating Allen’s media companies to an “African American tier” managed by a smaller, Black-focused ad agency, Variety reported. Allen alleges this deprived his companies of tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, as McDonald’s denied them access to its primary advertising budget.

Allen owns TheGrio:, a Black news and entertainment network that Allen Media Group acquired in 2016; Allen Media Group owns 27 network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets; Allen Media Group also owns small TV networks like Pets.tv and Comedy.tv; The Weather Channel; and Allen Media Group’s Entertainment Studios divisions include broadcast television network affiliates, streaming services, broadcast television syndication, and production.

In his lawsuit, Allen argues that McDonald’s decision was based on racial bias rather than business merit, describing it as “blatant and pernicious discrimination.” According to court filings, while 40% of McDonald’s customer base is Black, less than $5 million of the company’s $1.6 billion advertising budget in 2019 went to Black-owned media.

McDonald’s denies the allegations, asserting its advertising decisions are based on business strategy and audience alignment, not race.

The lawsuit coincided with McDonald’s 2021 announcement to increase ad spending on Black-owned media to 5% by 2024, up from 2%.

Despite the company touting its diversity efforts, on Jan. 6, it announced it will storp specific diversity goals, including requiring suppliers to meet DEI targets, and stop participating in external corporate diversity surveys. The company is renaming its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team, CNN reported.