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Was McDonalds 'wrong' to fire worker over cheese slice?

What is right in this McDonald's cheese firing case?

  • Companies should have a right to fire anyone, with or without cause

    Votes: 9 20.0%

  • The company was with its rights since the employee violated the rules

    Votes: 4 8.9%

  • They should have given a warning, but it's none of the court's business

    Votes: 13 28.9%

  • The court was right to bring justice to the worker

    Votes: 3 6.7%

  • Seriously, McDonalds sounds like a friggin' stingy-assed company

    Votes: 12 26.7%

  • Aren't restaurants required to give a duty meal? Good grief!

    Votes: 4 8.9%
  • Total voters
    45
MyOwnDrum

MyOwnDrum

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Here's a story from BBC:
BBC News - McDonald's 'wrong' to fire worker over cheese slice

What was right in this circumstance, and is this a matter that the courts should involve themselves with?

A McDonald's outlet in the Netherlands was wrong to sack an employee for giving a colleague a piece of cheese on a hamburger, a court has ruled.

The waitress was fired last March after she sold a hamburger to a co-worker who then asked for cheese, which she added.

The fast-food chain argued this turned the hamburger into a cheeseburger, and so she should have charged more.

But Leeuwarden district court ruled a written warning would have been more appropriate.

McDonald's was ordered to pay the former employee more than 4,200 euros ($5,900; £3,660) for the last five months of her contract.
Click to expand...
 
Hey! The pound has really jumped against the Euro!
 
**** the queen and all who sail in her
 
Five months pay for a wrongful firing and for a minimum wage job? Now that is crazy. And since when does McDonald's have contracted workers what kind of circus is Ronald running over there.
 
does that mean if i ask for a cheese burger with no cheese i should get it for the price of a hamburger
 
spud_meister said:
does that mean if i ask for a cheese burger with no cheese i should get it for the price of a hamburger
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You should consult your lawyer first. ;)
 
why are hamburgers called hamburgers when they are made out of beef?
 
Thank you, its a good job the did not come from the german town of Wanke or Varhaut:lol:
 
MyOwnDrum said:
Here's a story from BBC:
BBC News - McDonald's 'wrong' to fire worker over cheese slice

What was right in this circumstance, and is this a matter that the courts should involve themselves with?
Click to expand...

This may have been a little harsh but European employment laws are off the charts stupid. They are aggressively gamed by employees who know the law favors them big time.

In Europe, the employer is running a social program, not a business. It forces them to be ruthless when opportunity knocks.

I know of a fool at an engineering company that lost his employer a million on a project that should have turned an easy profit, and they couldn't fire him. This being one of a mountain of examples I've accumulated in 25-years dealing with the Euros; the examples of idiocy are truly endless.

What we don't know is the history of this situation. She could have been a lazy employee or one that had cocked up the works frequently and they saw this as a way to get rid of her.

.
 
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zimmer said:
This may have been a little harsh but European employment laws are off the charts stupid. They are aggressively gamed by employees who know the law favors them big time.

In Europe, the employer is running a social program, not a business. It forces them to be ruthless when opportunity knocks.

I know of a fool at an engineering company that lost his employer a million on a project that should have turned an easy profit, and they couldn't fire him. This being one of a mountain of examples I've accumulated in 25-years dealing with the Euros; the examples of idiocy are truly endless.

What we don't know is the history of this situation. She could have been a lazy employee or one that had cocked up the works frequently and they saw this as a way to get rid of her.

.
Click to expand...
Up to my retirement last year I was a Directer of three companies in the UK, my rate of sacking did not diminish over the 30 yrs, you are talking bollocks.

You must have been dealing with the dickhead end of the management chain:)

I always sacked the manager who employed the idiot first.
 
spud_meister said:
it's an even better job they didn't come from the austrian town of ****ing
Click to expand...
maybe that would have detracted from the fantastic American politeness, Giiiiiimmeee a Hamburger would become Giiimmeee a ****ingburger.
 
B L Zeebub said:
maybe that would have detracted from the fantastic American politeness, Giiiiiimmeee a Hamburger would become Giiimmeee a ****ingburger.
Click to expand...

In New York, that is the correct method of ordering a hamburger....

Back to the thread though, McDonalds was within their rights to fire her. Dosn't mean it was the correct thing to do, or that there isn't much much more to the story then appears in the paper.
Frankly I surprized that McDonalds didn't know about it and settle out of court to prevent bad press.
 
Don't know the laws over there.

if it was over here I'd call it a bit wrong, but not illegal, nor something the courts should have any say in
 
thats a first(well not really) an American who does not stick his nose into another nations business;)
 
A more petty and inconsequential reason to fire someone? I can't remember one...
 
MyOwnDrum said:
What was right in this circumstance,
Click to expand...

For the manager to just ignore it, and/or at worst warn the worker not to do it again. However, I'm guessing that this wasn't the only thing the worker did to get in trouble, as is usually the case with stories like these.

MyOwnDrum said:
and is this a matter that the courts should involve themselves with?
Click to expand...

Of course not.
 
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Since no one really knows the circumstances, it's none of anyone's business. Perhaps this employee was doing this kind of thing regularly and this was the last straw? It really comes down to theft, the employee was giving someone something that they had not paid for and theft is theft, even if it is just a piece of cheese.
 
In my state, restaurant employers are required by law to give one duty meal, up to a certain amount of money, while the employee is at work. I'm surprised that civilized Holland doesn't require this
 
zimmer said:
This may have been a little harsh but European employment laws are off the charts stupid. They are aggressively gamed by employees who know the law favors them big time.

In Europe, the employer is running a social program, not a business. It forces them to be ruthless when opportunity knocks.

I know of a fool at an engineering company that lost his employer a million on a project that should have turned an easy profit, and they couldn't fire him. This being one of a mountain of examples I've accumulated in 25-years dealing with the Euros; the examples of idiocy are truly endless.

What we don't know is the history of this situation. She could have been a lazy employee or one that had cocked up the works frequently and they saw this as a way to get rid of her.

.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with you. You are exactly right about how hard it is to fire employees in Europe. I suspect there is much more to the story. There always is.
 
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