A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald's must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds 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.

The ruling was signed by Judge Joao Ghisleni Filho in Porto Alegre.

Ghisleni said McDonald's could appeal the case, and the Brazilian headquarters of the chain said in an e-mailed statement it was weighing its legal options.

McDonald's also noted that it offers healthier food choices.

"The chain offers a large variety of options and balanced menus to cater (to) the daily dietary needs of its employees," McDonald's officials said in the statement.

Let's think about this for a moment. Say you're attending Harvard and you decide you're not going to study and you flunk out. Do you sue the institution because you did not take advantage of the education that was being presented to you? Come on!

Even if there are some famous chefs who are somewhat portly, there are still others who are not. Should only the portly chefs be compensated for their weight gain? Why not for cuts or burns that are suffered by all on a daily basis?

Aside from having a choice of healthier menu items, was diet and exercise not an option? Just because the lunch is free does not mean that you have to pig out on it (no offense to Mr. Porco Pequeno). If all the manager had to do was "taste test" the food, surely a nibble here and there would not lead to 65 pounds of weight gain, if one used moderate discipline and made a conscious effort to be moderately active.

In my opinion, this lawsuit is an all-too-real example of how not taking the responsibility for your own actions has caused someone else to pay. This 32-year-old whiner is basically saying that it's McDonald's fault that he is lazy and does not particularly care to monitor the quantities of what he eats. This then does not serve as a cautionary tale for anyone, but how yet another whiner has earned a fat payoff!

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