United States | Lactose laws

Dunkin’ faces a moo-ving class-action suit from the lactose intolerant 

Is the interpretation of the Americans With Disabilities Act by the plaintiffs udderly silly?

A chocolate frosted donut and a cup of coffee on display in a Dunkin' Donut store
Photograph: Getty Images
|NEW YORK

DUNKIN’ sells about 60 cups of coffee every second. That works out to be about 2bn cups a year. The coffee-and-doughnut chain brags there are 25,000 ways to order coffee in its shops. A recently filed class-action lawsuit claims that customers ordering plant-based or lactose-free milk with theirs are charged $0.50-2.15 more than those ordering cow’s milk. This amounts to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the plaintiffs argue.

Explore more

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Intolerance”

From the February 3rd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Donald Trump speaks to the media.

Donald Trump may find it harder to dominate America’s conversation

A more fragmented media is tougher to manage

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba addresses the media after pleading not guilty to federal charges at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson.

An FBI sting operation catches Jackson’s mayor taking big bribes

What the sensational undoing of the black leader means for Mississippi’s failing capital


Downtown of Metropolis, Illinois, showing the Super Museum and a gift shop.

America’s rural-urban divide nurtures wannabe state-splitters

What’s behind a new wave of secessionism


Does Donald Trump have unlimited authority to impose tariffs?

Yes, but other factors could hold him back

As Jack Smith exits, Donald Trump’s allies hint at retribution

The president-elect hopes to hand the Justice Department to loyalists