That's fatitude for you

What do you do when a company employs you for more than a decade and gives you free meals to boot? Why, you sue them, of course!

A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald's must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds (30 kilograms) while working there for a dozen years.

The 32-year-old man said he felt forced to sample the food each day to ensure quality standards remained high, because McDonald's hired "mystery clients" to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.

The man also said the company offered free lunches to employees, adding to his caloric intake while on the job. His identity was not released.

Okay, I've never worked in the restaurant industry, but I'm pretty sure you're not "forced" to snack on the food to make sure it's prepared correctly or that your employees are providing good service and keeping the joint clean. You can simply follow the company's guidelines on how to prepare the food, serve your customers, and clean the restaurant without helping yourself to a few burgers each day.

Also, just because they offer free meals to employees, that doesn't mean that you have to take the food, especially if you're already exercising your own harebrained quality control scheme by scarfing down your own product all day.

But nothing is ever anybody's own damn fault anymore, is it?