A conservative activist group on Tuesday sued McDonald’s, claiming that the fast food giant’s scholarship program for Hispanic students unlawfully discriminates against non-Hispanics and violates federal law.The lawsuit, filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, also sued International Scholarship and Tuition Services, the Nashville-based company that administers McDonald’s HACER scholarships.The HACER program awards 30 college scholarships worth up to $100,000 each year to students with at least one parent of Hispanic/Latino heritage, among other criteria. HACER stands for Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources. Related McDonald’s is the latest company to roll back diversity goals “So non-Hispanics — including non-Hispanics with severe financial need and racial minorities like blacks, Arabs, and Native Americans — are flatly barred based on their ethnic heritage,” American Alliance for Equal Rights said in a news release.Edward Blum, president of AAER, said, “It is our hope that McDonald’s immediately pauses this scholarship program so it can be opened to all under-resourced high school students regardless of their ethnic heritage.”Based in Austin, Texas, AAER describes itself in the lawsuit as “a nationwide membership organization dedicated to ending racial and ethnic classifications throughout America.”Blum previously formed Students for Fair Admissions, which filed lawsuits that led to the U.S. Supreme Court ending affirmative action in college admissions.Since 1985, the HACER program has awarded more than $33 million in scholarships to more than 17,000 Hispanic and Latino students. It was founded by McDonald's owner/operator Richard Castro after he noticed increasing school dropout rates among Hispanic students due to financial difficulties, according to a company news release. McDonald’s said in an emailed statement: “We are in the process of reviewing the complaint and will respond to it accordingly. However, McDonald’s announced its evolution on our inclusion work last week, and part of that process will be reviewing programs, in partnership with our franchisees as applicable, to ensure these programs align with our vision moving forward.”The lawsuit was filed a week after McDonald’s announced the end to some of its diversity practices in an open letter on Jan. 6 to the company’s owner/operators, employees and suppliers. It made the decision after assessing “the shifting legal landscape” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions.McDonald's said it will retire specific goals for achieving diversity at senior leadership levels. It also intends to end a program that encourages suppliers to develop diversity training and to increase the number of minority group members represented within their own leadership ranks.The company also said it will also pause “external surveys.” The burger giant didn’t elaborate but several other companies, including Lowe’s and Ford Motor Co., suspended their participation in an annual survey by the Human Rights Campaign that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employeesMcDonald’s is the latest big company to shift its tactics in the wake of the 2023 Supreme Court ruling and a conservative backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Walmart, John Deere, Harley-Davidson and others rolled back their DEI initiatives last year.Contributing: AP