McDonald’s ‘Wrong’ To Fire Employee Over Cheese Slice

A McDonald’s outlet in the Netherlands was wrong when firing an employee for giving a colleague a slice 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. As a result, he was let go.

But according to the rule of Leeuwarden district court however, a written warning would have been more appropriate. As a result, McDonald’s was ordered to pay the former employee more than 4,200 euros ($5,900 USD) for the last five months of her contract.

The fast-food chain had argued that the waitress – who was employed at a branch in the northern town of Lemmer – had broken staff rules prohibiting free gifts to family, friends or colleagues.

But the court said in its written judgment: “The dismissal was too severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese.”

Source: news.bbc.co.uk