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Comment by milesokeefe | Hacker News Reader

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milesokeefe·

> if BK did bring suit, what do you think they'd be able to recover?

The lawsuit would be punitive, not for profit.

And it wouldn't hurt their PR to assure people that the safe handling of their food is taken seriously.

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My point remains the same. There's no value in impoverishing the already nearly impoverished.

The rapid firing of the employee did a lot to keep BK's reputation...or at least made it no worse. Indeed, the morning manager's instant decision to fire the person is a clear signal.

Suing him would probably end up looking bad for BK – certainly worse than the incident was.

I disagree. The value is in demonstrating actions have consequences. This guy decided upon himself to sabotage his employer in order to destroy hard fought good-will. That goodwill is very valuable, and this minimum wage punk decided to destroy some of it. He should be held responsible for that goodwill he destroyed, and simply losing his job does not do anything for the damage caused.

I think firing the guy and leaving it at that is the optimal thing for BK to do. Let's agree that it probably won't be cost effective to garnish the guy's wages, in terms of legal costs to take him to court, the potential future income he'll have, etc. On BK's side, there's a lot of risk of negative publicity involved with taking him to court. I don't think being fired is being let off easy - surely this stunt will make it at least more difficult to be hired at another fast-food place.

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