Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 63
1 about his performance. If he was surprised to get such a
2 thing as this, you know, if he was going to be surprised to
3 get such a thing as this, then he was, you know, clearly
4 well off the mark in terms of understanding where he
5 stood.
6
7 I did not have it in for Ray, Ms. Steel. I did not have it
8 in for Mr. Coton. He did not manage the restaurant very
9 well, and I wanted to help him manage the restaurant
10 better, and I did everything I could to help him, which
11 included being fair and at times lenient on him.
12
13 MS. STEEL: You go on to say: "As a result of discussions with
14 my superiors, I had decided that I would not do this
15 immediately on Ray Coton's return from holiday." Who was
16 that you are talking about there, your superiors?
17 A. I do not recall. I just have the sort of memory that
18 I intended to give it to him on his first day back from
19 holiday. But, having spoken to somebody, possibly John
20 Atherton, you know -----
21
22 Q. Mr. Guerin?
23 A. No, I do not think it would have been Mr. Guerin,
24 because, as I said, I very infrequently spoke to him.
25 Possibly John, but you see, I cannot remember exactly who.
26 But it was decided, you know, wait, give him a few days
27 back off holiday, sort of thing, you know.
28
29 Q. They did not perhaps say that your course of action was not
30 a fair way of doing things to prepare a performance review
31 and a formal verbal warning beforehand without talking to
32 the Manager first?
33 A. No. I mean, nobody would suggest that. What I did was
34 the correct course of action under the circumstances. If
35 you have a performance review in which your performance is
36 unsatisfactory, since that performance review in May, or
37 whenever it was, your performance has either got better or
38 worse. You know what is coming at your next review.
39
40 Q. If you have had a performance review?
41 A. Well, you know, even if you have not had a performance
42 review.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can we just get this business of performance
45 reviews, because the phrase used is "if you had a
46 performance review". As I understand it, you are saying
47 there is constant assessment of the Store Manager upon the
48 basis of which you can write down your comments in the form
49 of a performance review, subject, you say, to talking to
50 the person. But it is not a performance review in the
51 sense that there is a test then and there on a specific
52 day?
53 A. No, it is not like an exam, no.
54
55 Q. A performance review is the document, but the performance
56 review itself is being carried on over the whole six month
57 period, or whatever it is?
58 A. Absolutely; and people are kept up to date with how you
59 view their performance always; they must always be aware of
60 how their boss views their performance, to have a good,
