A Dutch court has ruled against McDonald’s and found that the company was wrong to fire an employee who simply gave a colleague an extra piece cheese on her hamburger. She had paid for a hamburger and McDonald’s viewed the gesture as a violation of company policy against gifts.
The court noted that it might have been a bit more appropriate to simply give the employee a reprimand rather than a termination. Now, the company will pay 4,265.47 euros for lost wages. That’s a lot cheese. In addition, the company will pay court costs.
The question is why the supervisor was not fired. Not only did he or she succeed in losing thousands of dollars over a slice of cheese, but created an international flood of bad press for McDonald’s.
For the full story, click here.
Lottakatz:
But I believe the majority of those billionaires made it themselves. Obviously they needed help from employees but the fact that we have the most billionaires in the world is, in my mind, a product of our political and economic freedom. Not everyone has the ability to do this and we should be thankful that we have rich people. They pay my fees.
They may not care about people but their existence creates opportunity for millions of people and they put millions to work.
How did this go from a discussion about termination due to petty theft, to union/corporation campaign financing?
How does the richest country in the world, or the net worth of billionaires (individuals) have anything to do with it anyway?
The same people that are scared of corporate and union voices, are also scared of ammonia being used to (try to) decontaminate the burger they eat.
The answer to too much corporate influence is to boycott those corporate products. As I have said, I don’t think you’re going to find that many corporate ads for a candidate. Claiming that the sky is going to fall isn’t going to reverse the Court’s decision. Is it? I don’t think most corporations are going to be so up front in their support for a particular candidate. I think most corporation will maintain the status quo, and corrupt our government via lobbyists.
I work for myself. James Madison pointed out that perspective will provide disagreement. How many of you that disagree with me work for the government. How many of you depend on the state or local government for your paycheck?
Here’s a good site for your research lottakatz.
http://www.aneki.com/
Rank Country Number of billionaires
1 United States 269
2 Japan 29
3 Germany 28
4 Italy 17
5 Canada 16
6 Switzerland 15
7 France 15
8 Hong Kong 14
9 Mexico 13
10 United Kingdom 12
11 Russia 8
11 Saudi Arabia 8
The Pandora.com has proved to be very good LottaK. Whats the best part about it, is its free.
Cows scare me. They show no emotion. That’s probably from years of trying to respond when they heard other cows mooing from the highway at 60 mph.
Roll down the window. Moooo Mooo
Did you know they put chlorine in the water you drink?
John P. Holdren is advisor to President Barack Obama for Science and Technology. He suggested
“Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control. Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one appear to be under development. To be acceptable, such a substance would have to meet some rather stiff requirements: it must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets, or livestock.”
Duh, “How come the word “Unions” is left out of the comments?”
Union contributions? Please, you really don’t seem to have a grasp of where the money is. I Googled “richest countries in the world 2009” to get the dollar amounts:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_top_20_richest_countries_in_the_world
“What are the top 20 richest countries in the world?
US_Dollars_in_Trillion”>US Dollars in Trillion
1. United States – 11,711,830
2. Japan – 4,622,771
3. Germany – 2,740,551
4. China – 2,228,862
5. United Kingdom – 2,124,385
6. France – 2,046,646
7. Italy – 1,677,834
8. Spain – 1,039,927
9. Canada – 977,968
10. Brazil – 603,973
11. India – 691,163
12. South Korea – 679,674
13. Mexico – 676,497
14. Russian Federation –
15. Australia – 637,327
16. Netherlands – 578,979
17. Switzerland – 357,542
18. Belgium – 352,312
19. Turkey – 302,786
20. Sweden – 346,412 ”
Who exactly do you think has most of that money? Me? You? If we ever got within arms reach of a member of that club their bodyguards would shoot first and ask questions later. That wealth is held by 1% of the population and corporate/banking interests. You need to open your eyes Duh, you don’t seem to know where you stand in society or who your ‘enemies’ are. The people and things that have the wealth look upon us a equipment, they’re the team. Their interests are not ours.
Union money? Ha! Ha to that gambit sir! There was an assault on union ‘free speech’ for years:
***
http://www.campaignfinancesite.org/structure/states1.html
Use of Union Dues
The nationwide battle over labor’s ability to use union dues for political purposes has been losing steam. The momentum for “paycheck protection” or in the words of the AFL-CIO, “paycheck deception,” began in 1992, when voters in Washington state approved a ballot initiative barring unions from using members’ dues for political activity without the members’ prior consent. By 1998, efforts to limit the political participation of union members were underway in 19 other states, led by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and backed by a network of conservative organizations.
***
That any restraint is removed now from unions won’t change the equation at all because unions don’t have the money- only about 10% of workers in America are even unionized. $3 million dollar expenditures aren’t even on the radar when you start talking about real money and the entities that have it. It’s nothing.
Just look at energy interests: Exxon profits 2008 = 40.61 BILLION. 2009 pushed that to 45.2 Billion. Just a few months of profit could buy every election that can be bought with ads, feature length infomercials and buying huge blocks of prime time on TV and radio to publicize a candidate. Or demonize one.
whack them on the head, eviscerate them, cut them up and then put them on the grill. Oh so brutal, but oh so good.
Swarthmore Mom:
do you get to pick the pig or cow that will be slaughtered for your table? I always like to meat them before I eat them and thank them for their tastiness.
I don’t think the cows understand, but I think the pigs might. They always give me a funny look when I tell them I am going to use everything but their squeal.
Swarthmore mom,
I think it’s great to buy locally grown food; even if it costs a little more. I’m a regular at the farmer’s market.
I remember the reaction from many when the Palin at the turkey farm video came out. People freaked-out because a turkey was decapitated. It was as if, in their minds, the head was supposed to be removed by magic.
I try to eat well. I’m not much of a hunter, but I like to fish, and I like to eat what I catch. When fishing is good, I keep some. When it’s slow, I throw them back. I want those who come after me to be able to do the same thing. I think many would be squeamish if they had to clean their fish before they ate them.
Duh:
you just proved you are not Bdaman.
Good school, I used to know a few guys that went there. Although I graduated from high school about 30 years ago.
Duh Locally grown and locally made food is becoming very popular. I think people are beginning to think again about where their food comes from. I know I do.
Byron,
Chaminade College Prep.
lottakatz,
Did you know they put chlorine in the water you drink?
Did the study report anyone harmed by the use of ammonia, or was it just mentioned to “inject”(pun intended) fear into the mind of the reader?
Even if the most natural methods of procurement and storage were used, most people today would have a desire to stop eating. People don’t like to know where there food comes from. They only like to see it fully prepared on the table.
What this story really tells us is what happens when we permit capitalism to become our god. McDonald’s point is that were this minor infraction to be tolerated, it would soon become a widespread practice among employees to be overly generous to their friends, and the resulting increase in company-wide food costs would be substantial. That argument makes sense, but it makes sense only if we accept the premise that the size of a company in and of itself is sufficient justification for adopting policies that treat all instances of employee misconduct as equally reprehensible and that ignore the nuances of individual behavior. The Dutch apparently do not accept that premise, believing instead that employers should exercise a degree of rational discretion. Of course, granting local managers the ability to make informed judgments rather than adhere to rigid company rules presumes a degree of discernment on the part of managers that McDonald’s might find ill-founded. The judicial counterpart is the legislative creation of mandatory sentencing rules. The growing complexities of society make us all fearful of entrusting those in authority with the right to make wise decisions. So we adopt the opposite approach and eliminate humanity from the decision-making process. Are we happy yet?
Duh:
where did you go to high school? I had a high school girl friend from Ladue.
lOTTAKATZ:
thanks, I needed a reason to quit going to McDonalds and other fast food restaurants.
Swarthmore mom, It’s not my business but you might want to rethink the burger at MickyD’s.
I read an article that followed this issue and it concluded that probably 80% of the packaged ground beef in America (sold to distributors and eateries) is contaminated with this stuff. It also explained that the filler material now treated with ammonia and sold for people food is the hard fat, connective tissue and other scrap that is used in pet food. I starting to worry for my cats after reading about this stuff.
—-
Ammonia-injected hamburgers in the US: one juicy secret
Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 23:13 By GSerrano
According to a report in Natural News, “beef sold to McDonald’s, Burger King, school lunches and other fast food restaurants” in the US is “injected with ammonia, a chemical commonly used in glass cleaning and window cleaning products.” The chemical is injected into the ‘extra cow parts’ or beef trimmings, eventually made into hamburgers at fast food restaurants, supposedly to kill the e.coli bacteria.
The original article in the New York Times claims that the ‘ammonia-injected beef comes from a company called Beef Products, Inc.’ that came upon the idea of ‘using ammonia to sterilize beef before selling it for human consumption.’
Unfortunately, ‘the ammonia doesn’t always kill the pathogens. Both e.coli and salmonella have been found contaminating the cow-derived products sold by this company.’
The report further adds that the phenomenon seems to be okay with the USDA that reportedly ‘endorses the procedure as a way to make the hamburger beef “safe” enough to eat.’ It is said that the USDA had been exempting the products of the beef company from the standard and mandatory ‘pathogen testing and product recalls.’
http://trendsupdates.com/ammonia-injected-hamburgers-in-the-us-one-juicy-secret/
“Does your current employer permit theft in the workplace?
——
Apparently they do. If not theft outright then certainly ’skimming’ but only for the big dogs. (1)
I’d think McD’s could spare a slice of cheese on a burger considering how much money they spend on their CEO’s. (2)”
If you really believe what you’re saying, let’s go to Ladue, or along mansion roe on Lindell Blvd. this weekend. You can steal trinkets off the porch’s of the rich people.
Respect for the property of others has nothing to do with how much they have. If you are in need, and you ask, most will probably give it to you. I know I would, and I was one of those evil bastards that grew up in Frontenac.
Duh to Swarthmore mom :
“I am glad you are not my employer Duh.”
Does your current employer permit theft in the workplace?
——
Apparently they do. If not theft outright then certainly ‘skimming’ but only for the big dogs. (1)
I’d think McD’s could spare a slice of cheese on a burger considering how much money they spend on their CEO’s. (2)
(1) By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch June 24, 2009, 6:29 p.m. EDT:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A lawsuit filed against McDonald’s Corp. by a former employee earlier this year shines a light on the lengths to which some companies may be going to avoid disclosing perks and other potentially embarrassing executive compensation.
McDonald’s developed a complex scheme to keep country-club fees it paid for executive Tim Fenton out of the fast-food giant’s 2007 proxy statement, according to the civil complaint, filed in federal court in Illinois in late March by Lisa Bridges, who formerly worked for McDonald’s as a senior director of executive compensation.
The fees were $2,940.80. Fenton made more than $3.5 million in total compensation during 2006.
–also—
(2) McDonald’s CEO gets $13.4M compensation
Posted 4/10/2007 5:32 PM By Dave Carpenter, AP Business Writer:
CHICAGO —
McDonald’s Corp. CEO Jim Skinner received compensation the company valued at $13.4 million in 2006 during one of the strongest years in the fast-food company’s history, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing Monday.
Skinner, who has been chief executive since November 2004 after more than three decades with the company, was paid a $1,177,692 salary, with the bulk of his pay package coming in incentive pay of $8.8 million. That consisted of a $3.5 million bonus for the company’s 2006 performance and $5.3 million for it having exceeded targets for 2004-06 — both awarded under incentive programs for top executives.
Skinner, 62, also got stock valued by the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company at $1,631,952 and options valued at $1,402,253 at the time both were awarded in March 2006, as well as perquisites of $378,100. The perks included $349,546 under the company’s profit-sharing and bonus plan and use of the company aircraft.