Day 152 - 11 Jul 95 - Page 48
1 high. We looked at what turnover actually meant. We
2 advanced from that situation to a suggestion that
3 McDonald's was more than happy to have a high turnover,
4 because it meant that they kept a comparatively high
5 proportion of crew on the basic starting pay.
6
7 But all this in a sense is just discussion. The most
8 important thing, whether the summary which I have just
9 given is, in fact, accurate or not, is you put the case
10 which you mean to put in terms which there can be no doubt
11 about, and here you have in the witness box someone who has
12 touched on the matter in his evidence-in-chief and is an
13 obvious candidate for putting the matter fair and square at
14 a moment which you choose during your cross-examination.
15
16 Let us leave it there, but for all those reasons, lest
17 there be any confusion about it in the future, I really
18 think you should put the form of words which you decided
19 most accurately reflects your case to Mr. Davis.
20
21 MS. STEEL: Obviously -- I do not necessarily want to say
22 that -- the point is that even the figures that Mr. Davis
23 has given so far on turnover, you know, we would consider
24 them high, so it is not necessary for us to -- I am not
25 saying we necessarily need to put the matter to him. We
26 may put it to him.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you do. I think you do; I think you
29 should. Because I think the form in which it has been put,
30 inadvertently or intentionally, has varied from witness to
31 witness as they have come into the witness box, you must,
32 in my view, put your final form to a witness who has some
33 chance of giving an answer.
34
35 MS. STEEL: I just do not know that Mr. Davis is necessarily
36 the best person to do it with, so .....
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is no harm in putting it to him, is
39 there?
40
41 MS. STEEL: He may be too low down in the chain to really
42 have -----
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You can argue that to me in due course, but
45 I need to understand exactly what it is and it needs to be
46 put to a witness who can give an answer.
47
48 MS. STEEL: There is always Mr. Preston left; we can always put
49 it to him.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Please accept my invitation to put it to
52 Mr. Davis and by all means put it to Mr. Preston as well.
53
54 MS. STEEL: Right, OK.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: May I say this, that it is not a sign of
57 defeat or weakness that one changes one's suggestion during
58 a case. I am not talking about this one, but very often a
59 litigant's case starts off being one thing and, in the
60 light of all the evidence which has been heard, they put it
