I try not to come down on illegal immigrants too hard — it’s the U.S. government’s fault more than theirs, and if I was born poor in a stink-hole like Mexico I’d probably do the same thing — but this story beats out the McDonald’s coffee one for “most ridiculous lawsuit ever.” Suing your company for firing you, when it was nice enough to hire you illegally in the first place, is worse than balancing a piping-hot Styrofoam cup between your thighs and taking the lid off while you’re driving. And then blaming the coffee.

The plaintiffs contend that Wendy’s could have kept them if it had filed to join a federal program on time. Wendy’s concedes the law firm was mistaken in not filing on time, but points out that it was required by law to terminate the illegals after that.

The one legitimate beef the immigrants have is that money was taken out of their paychecks to cover the cost of the program they never benefited from. Since the program basically gives government blessing to the illegal workers’ presence, they probably should be refunded the lost money, even if it’s ludicrous for them to ask in the first place. The article does not say exactly how much the plaintiffs are suing for.

ASIDE: Here is a Web site that takes a sympathetic look at the coffee lawsuit. The coffee really WAS hot, even hotter than other restaurants’ beverages — that must mean Mickey D’s was trying to burn its customers! And she only sued because they wouldn’t give her the money!

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.