Day 153 - 12 Jul 95 - Page 49


     
     1
     2   Q.   So when the temperature went down for one to two days,
     3        which I believe you have accepted, it was illegal -- do you
     4        accept that you were continuing to expect your employees to
     5        work illegally?
     6        A.  I do not know whether it was illegal in the light of
     7        the air conditioning going down.  What we tried to do is
     8        get the engineer in as soon as possible.  May be he
     9        arrived, did not have the part that he needed so he had to
    10        come back the next day to fix it.  That would have been the
    11        likely scenario in that situation, I would have said.
    12        I did let the crew on the front counter wear jumpers in
    13        recognition of the fact that, you know, it was fairly cold
    14        within the restaurant.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You see, there is a matter in relation to
    17        that; why do you not put that as well?
    18
    19   MR. MORRIS:   The allegation is that the working temperature
    20        indoors was measured by the staff and was shown to be six
    21        degrees Centigrade inside the grill area.  Do you know
    22        anything about that?  Do you remember anything about that?
    23        A.  No.
    24
    25   Q.   Right.  We have dealt with the law on that -----
    26        A.  Sorry -- I do not -- I remember it being fairly cold
    27        within the restaurant.  I do not remember the staff
    28        measuring the temperature.
    29
    30   Q.   Right, OK.  Do you remember members of staff complaining
    31        about the problem and by way of answer were given a T-shirt
    32        to wear underneath their clothing?
    33        A.  I do not remember it being quite as that way round.  I
    34        remember as, you know, saying they could wear the pullovers
    35        on till anyway.
    36
    37   Q.   You do not remember them complaining about the cold first?
    38        A.  I am sure one or two of them would have complained
    39        about the cold at some point during the proceedings.  You
    40        know, it is human reaction, if it is fairly cold, to
    41        complain about the cold.
    42
    43   Q.   Right.  But you do not remember any staff complaining?
    44        A.  Not specifically, but one or two may well have done.
    45
    46   Q.   Right.  Because you do not remember a great deal of
    47        complaints that took place in the store in the time that
    48        you were Manager, but that does not mean to say there were
    49        not complaints, it just means you do not remember; is that
    50        correct? 
    51        A.  There may have been complaints, and there probably were 
    52        complaints at odd times, yes.  But if crew or staff had a 
    53        problem, they would come to me and I would deal with
    54        anything that was brought up.
    55
    56   Q.   You presume that they would come to you?
    57        A.  I know they did, yes.
    58
    59   Q.   But if they did not come to you, you would assume they did
    60        not have a complaint?

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