SAO PAULO — A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald’s must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there for a dozen years.
The 32-year-old man said he felt forced to sample the food each day to ensure quality standards remained high, because McDonald’s hired “mystery clients” to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.
The man also said the company offered free lunches to employees, adding to his caloric intake while on the job. His identity was not released.
The ruling was signed Tuesday by Judge Joao Ghisleni Filho in Porto Alegre.
Filho said McDonald’s could appeal the case, and the Brazilian headquarters of the chain said in an e-mailed statement Thursday it was weighing its legal options.
McDonald’s also noted that it offers healthier food choices.
“The chain offers a large variety of options and balanced menus to cater (to) the daily dietary needs of its employees,” the company said in the statement.
McDonald’s headquarters is in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Mike’s Thoughts: OK, in my attempt to be fair about this let me just say that if you’re a person who has a tendency to overeat and a tendency to gain weight rapidly, I completely understand that working in a McDonalds could be very very difficult for you. By the same token, if you’re a person who struggles with alcohol abuse, it’s probably not a good idea to work in a bar.
That said, I HATE this court’s decision, even though it happened in Brazil.
It’s always easy to point the finger at someone else rather than at ourselves but the bottom line (in this situation and most others) is that no one forced this guy to overeat to the extent that he obviously did. Yes he was around food all day, yes he may have had to “sample” food as a condition of his job, but “sampling” doesn’t generally result in a 65lb weight gain over 10 years.
This sort of decision has become very common in American Justice over the last decade or so and in my mind, it’s a very troubling trend. The fact that it now seems to be spreading across the globe is even more disturbing.
A lack of personal accountability is perhaps the greatest Achilles heel in a modern society that’s CLEARLY overwhelmed with them right now and decisions like this one only serve to perpetuate the problem.
Again, if you have alcohol issues, don’t work in a bar.
If you have sex issues, don’t work in a strip club.
And if you have food issues, don’t work at McDonalds.
Or if you do, don’t expect to be fiscally compensated for your piss poor decision.
