Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 40


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  So Mr. Mills did not talk about that with you?
     3        A.  Certainly not.  I would have thought it was
     4        unprofessional to discuss any other detail with me other
     5        than McDonald's business.
     6
     7   Q.   It would be unprofessional for him to discuss what with
     8        you?
     9        A.  Other companies' business with me.
    10
    11   Q.   I did not talk about individual companies.  I am talking
    12        about the nature of his job.
    13        A.  No.  It was not that sort of relationship.  He came in
    14        to do a job, he did it, and went off.
    15
    16   Q.   You have said that he said, or you claim he said, that he
    17        found that everything was in order.  Are those the words he
    18        used?
    19        A.  I do not remember the exact words, but it would have
    20        been something like that, because he was very
    21        down-to-earth, he was very easy to get on with, and he did
    22        not have any problem with my department.  He was very
    23        impressed with my department.  It was very busy, and he
    24        thought it was managed very well.
    25
    26   Q.   So, you do not remember the exact words he used, but you
    27        got the impression that he was happy with the situation?
    28        A.  I did not get the impression.  I know he was very
    29        happy.
    30
    31   Q.   Did he walk round with a smile on his face, or what?
    32        A.  I do not think that is really relevant, is it?
    33
    34   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, Mr. Morris.  Come on.  Ask about a
    35        particular matter.
    36
    37   MR. MORRIS:  I feel quite angry about this.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It does not surprise me one bit that a wages
    40        inspector should come in with a query, be given an hour or
    41        two to check things, have staff there to answer queries if
    42        necessary, and then, at the end of the day, just say, "All
    43        right, it seems OK", and leave, or something like that.
    44
    45   MR. MORRIS:  Is that not very unprofessional, for a wages
    46        inspector to, off the cuff, say that he thinks everything
    47        is in order, without putting it in writing?
    48        A.  He always followed his visits up with a report to my
    49        immediate superior.
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I just do not understand this.  VAT 
    52        inspectors come in and do exactly that. 
    53
    54   MR. MORRIS:  She just said that he always followed it up with a
    55        report in writing to her superiors.
    56
    57   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Even if everything is all right, he did?
    58        A.  It was just a cursory: "Thank you for my visit on such
    59        and such a date at which I found everything to be as it
    60        should be and in accordance with the Wages Council."

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