Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 34


     
     1        and if it were of such a nature that they thought that it
     2        would receive undue press publicity, that would reach the
     3        shores, you know, our shores, then they would inform us of
     4        that.
     5
     6   Q.   In this country we have heard that there have been a number
     7        of objections by residents or campaigns by residents when a
     8        new store is going to be opened.  This was from the chap
     9        who was the General Secretary of the Tidy Britain Group, it
    10        was your witness.  That has happened in America as well,
    11        has it not?
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Where do we go on criticism and protest
    14        because, to a very large extent, speaking as a
    15        generalisation, what I have to decide is whether the
    16        criticisms in this leaflet going through them really
    17        section by section are justified or not?  It would be a
    18        complete abrogation of my task in the case to pay attention
    19        to the fact that there have been criticisms in themselves,
    20        would it not?
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  Mr. Beavers said in his examination in-chief that
    23        in LA during the riots McDonald's stores only had their
    24        windows smashed, whereas other ones got burned down, and
    25        this was some indication of the high esteem they were held
    26        in by the community.
    27
    28   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, the point about that, my Lord, was that the
    29        community was largely black and Hispanic.  That is the
    30        point of that story.
    31
    32   MR. MORRIS:  For all we know, they might have wanted to work
    33        there the next day.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It was really directed at that.  It was in
    36        support of the demography point, was it not, really?  I can
    37        see areas in this case that, just depending upon your point
    38        of view, you might be for or against McDonald's, as it
    39        were, but I have to apply myself to the admissible evidence
    40        in so far as it relates to the allegations which are made
    41        in this leaflet.
    42
    43   MR. MORRIS:  The Plaintiffs have portrayed their reputation in
    44        certain terms and maybe we do not have to respond, but
    45        obviously we would argue -----
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I do not think you do really.  In so far
    48        as Mr. Beavers says:  "I think we have a good reputation
    49        and we are determined that it should not be", he would say,
    50         "falsely impugned", then that is one thing.  But I am not 
    51        going to decide this case on what other people think of 
    52        McDonald's. 
    53
    54   MR. MORRIS:  As long as it is known that our position is ---
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I cannot possibly do that ---
    57
    58   MR. MORRIS:  -- that McDonald's has a bad reputation in society.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  -- because it would be irrelevant to do it.

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