Day 072 - 12 Jan 95 - Page 62
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2 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. What I took to lie behind Mr. Morris'
3 questioning was this, that McDonald's are inclined whenever
4 economic pressures dictate to sacrifice the interests of
5 the staff to their own commercial interests.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The ethnic side had not occurred to me.
8 Obviously the improvement, if such it was, in the
9 performance of the store under Mr. Stump's management is
10 relevant.
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12 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, what I was driving at is this. If
13 Mr. Morris, and as it turns out without any foundation,
14 were trying too paint a black picture through the questions
15 he asked, then, in my submission, I am entitled to
16 demonstrate, as Mr. Stump I think has just demonstrated,
17 that, on the contrary, the picture is white in this
18 respect, that so far from, as it were, damaging the
19 interests of the employees, his stewardship of the Kings
20 Road store has conferred a benefit, not just on the local
21 community but upon employable persons at large because he
22 is employing more of them, and that must mean though the
23 proportions remain the same, also more of people from
24 ethnic minorities.
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26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would be minded to agree with everything
27 except the ethnic. The reason I draw a line before that is
28 that I know the ethnic origin of McDonald's employees may
29 play another part in the case which was neither touched on
30 in-chief nor in cross-examination.
31
32 MR. RAMPTON: I will leave the ethnic origin question on one
33 side.
34
35 MS. STEEL: Mr. Rampton has made an assertion that far from
36 damaging the interests of the employees, Mr. Stump's
37 stewardship of the Kings Road has conferred a benefit not
38 just on the local community but upon employable persons at
39 large. That is based upon the assumption that a job at
40 McDonald's is something that is worth having.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: All this is comment in due course. I would
43 take no exception to any of Mr. Rampton's questions, except
44 the ethnic origin one which is the point at which stood up
45 anyway. Let us go on.
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: I will not go any further. I would only make this
48 observation, we know perfectly well there are some people
49 who would not work for McDonald's if it were the last place
50 on earth; some people would rather do nothing at all. I
51 quite understand that.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think we had better keep back on what is
54 really relevant to the issues in this case.
55
56 MR. RAMPTON: I quite agree. (To the witness): Can I ask you
57 this, though, Mr. Stump, returning to what is after all
58 quite a serious question which is whether you confer a
59 benefit on the community and on your work force. Have you
60 during the time that you have been in charge of the Kings
