Detroit-area Muslim man sues Little Caesar's for $100M over pork topping

DETROIT (WJBK) - A Dearborn Muslim man has filed a $100 million lawsuit against Little Caesar's after he says his neighborhood restaurant gave him pork pepperoni instead of halal pepperoni.

Mohamad Bazzi's attorney filed the lawsuit in Wayne County against the pizza chain on Thursday, the day before Ramadan.

According to the lawsuit obtained by FOX 2, Bazzi ordered a halal pizza from the location on Schafer near Warren in Dearborn on March 20. Bazzi ordered the pizza and took it home to share with his wife.

The lawsuit claims that after a few bites, the family realized that they were eating pork pepperoni. The consumption of pork is strictly forbidden under Muslim law.

Three days later, Bazzi went to the Dearborn police department to file a complaint against the pizza place and said he was 'defrauded and wondered how many other people may have been unknowingly eating “Pork” that defendants sold as “Halal”.'

On May 24, Bazzi returned to the Little Caesar's Pizza on Schaefer to order another pizza. Once again, he said he specifically asked for halal pepperoni. He said the receipt and label on the box both said 'halal' but when he opened the box, he said he once again found pork pepperoni.

Bazzi said he returned to the store and the manager confirmed that the pepperoni was pork. He claims that the manager told him that he asked for regular pepperoni and that he "told the employee to put the [halal] sticker" on the box.

Bazzi maintains that he asked for halal but received pork.

In the lawsuit, his attorney claims that Little Caesar's has failed to "provide proper training to employees on the magnitude and emotional distress that is caused by feeding “Pork” to Muslims, under the guise that it is “Halal”."

FOX reached out to Little Caesar's for a comment on the case. This is the statement they released:

"Little Caesars cherishes our customers from all religions and cultures, and the communities we serve are very important to us.  While we can't comment on pending litigation, we take this claim very seriously.  At this time, we believe it is without merit."

The class action lawsuit was filed for $100 million in economic and punitive damages.