McDonald’s blamed for ex-employee’s weight gain, ordered to pay $17500
by Samia Sehgal - October 29, 2010 - 0 comments

A former manager of a McDonald’s franchise in Porto Allegre, Brazil, sued the hamburger chain for making him gain 65 pounds while he worked with them for over a dozen years. McDonald’s must pay him $17,500 as recompense for his weight gain, a Brazilian court ruled on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old man, whose identity wasn’t disclosed, complained that the company's policy of mandatory food sampling caused him to balloon from about 155 lbs. to 231 lbs. while working at their restaurant in southern Brazil.

Food tasting and free lunches
The man said that he felt forced to taste everything on the menu to ensure the quality of the food because McDonald's hired undercover customers to randomly visit restaurants and report back on quality.

Also, he blamed the free lunches consisting of burgers, fries and ice cream, which contributed to his excessive weight gain during the course of employment.

Judge Joao Filho agreed with the man, and issued a ruling against the company, ordering them to pay $17500 to the ex-employee.

"We're disappointed with this preliminary court ruling, as it's not an accurate representation of our highly regarded work environment and culture." --McDonald’s

McDonald’s counters the claims
McDonald’s countered the manager’s claims, noting that several healthy options are available for the employees. “The chain offers a large variety of options and balanced menus to cater (to) the daily dietary needs of its employees,” it said.

The company also said the court’s ruling gives a wrong picture of their work environment.

“We're disappointed with this preliminary court ruling, as it's not an accurate representation of our highly regarded work environment and culture,” McDonald's said in a statement. “This case is still a pending legal matter and it would be premature to draw conclusions at this time.”

Filho however added that McDonald's could appeal the case. The company is contemplating its legal options, the Brazilian headquarters of the chain said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday.

McDonald's has more than 32000 restaurants in more than 100 countries with a workforce of more than 400000 employees.

If the world's largest restaurant fails to satisfactorily counter the ex-manager’s claims in court, other employees may also file suits against them.

McD's everyday = weight gain.

A No Sh*t Sherlock Award worthy, I feel.

Proof that he had been stealing food as well.

...the company's policy of mandatory food sampling...he felt forced to taste everything...to ensure the quality of the food...he blamed the free lunches

O rly? Another case of someone trying to blame someone else for shovelling food in their face, how unusual.

You know what the term 'mandatory' means, don't you?

Anyway, you just need one bite to check taste, and you can spit it out.

Same applies to wine ( sip not bite ) tasting but I never seem to be able to do that.