McDonalds wrong to sack worker over cheese
A branch of the McDonalds hamburger chain in the Friesian town of Lemmer was wrong to sack a worker for giving a colleague on a break an extra piece of cheese on her hamburger, a court ruled on Tuesday.
McDonalds' rules state staff cannot give away products to staff, family and friends. And by giving the extra slice of cheese, the hamburger turned into a more expensive cheeseburger, Nos tv reported.
The judge said McDonalds had acted too severely in sacking the woman. 'The cost of a slice of cheese is not comparable to a severe step such as redundancy,' Nos quoted the judge as saying.
In addition, the branch manager had not asked the woman to explain her actions, nor had it taken any steps against the colleague who asked for the burger. It is unclear from the reports if the hamburger was actually paid for.
The sacked worker will not be reinstated but was awarded €4,500 in compensation - equivalent to five month's wages plus holiday pay and interest, Nos said.
Get the DutchNews.nl newsletter in your mailbox: Click here to subscribe
Readers' comments
Place your comments:
A file photograph of a cheeseburger 
A court in the Netherlands ruled yesterday that the fast-food company McDonald's over-reacted in dismissing an employee who added a piece of cheese to a colleague's hamburger without charging for it. McDonalds has been ordered to pay compensation since, the court ruled, "The cost of a slice of cheese is not comparable to a severe step such as redundancy".

In March 2009, a waitress in Lemmer sold a hamburger to a colleague, and then added some cheese when her colleague asked for some.  McDonald's said that this made the meal a cheeseburger, not a hamburger, and so she was sacked for not charging extra for the cheese. Rules for staff, the company argued, prevented them from giving food away for free.

Now a court in Leeuwarden has ordered McDonald's to pay her more than €4,200 (about US$5,900 or £3,700), since it decided that a written warning would have been a more appropriate reaction. The compensation is for five months of lost earnings, with holiday pay and interest.

The court noted that the manager of the branch had not asked the employee for an explanation before firing her, nor had McDonald's considered taking action against the colleague who asked for the cheese. "The dismissal was too severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese," said the court.