A court in the Netherlands has ruled in favor of an employee who was fired over a piece of cheese. The employee had been preparing a hamburger meal for a colleague on break when the colleague asked for cheese on the hamburger. The employee added the cheese, not realizing that her actions would cause her to lose her job. After being fired, the employee took McDonald’s to court. The fast-food chain argued that the employee had broken company policy by putting cheese on the hamburger and not charging her colleague for it. The court, however, sided with the employee, saying in their judgment that the firing was too severe a measure and a written warning would have been more appropriate. “It was just a slice of cheese,” said the court. McDonald’s was ordered to pay the former employee $5,900 for the remaining 5 months of her contract. That’s a pretty expensive slice of cheese.
