Day 122 - 05 May 95 - Page 42
1 A. I have to be very careful now. I used to.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: How many Vice-Presidents are there, of the
4 Second Plaintiffs, McDonald's Hamburgers?
5 A. I think the number is 15, my Lord. That may now be
6 16. There have been some recent promotions, but I think
7 the number is 15, not counting, of course, Paul Preston.
8
9 MR. MORRIS: So 15 is the entire ---
10 A. Executive.
11
12 Q. -- Executive?
13 A. Yes. But there is -----
14
15 Q. There is no senior?
16 A. As I tried to explain to you, I now on a limb. I do
17 not get involved in policy decisions, and I must not attend
18 meetings where policy is being formulated. Simply because
19 I may be in a position of having to challenge it.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sure I have been told this in the past
22 but you may know, or Mr. Rampton. Although the Second
23 Plaintiff is incorporated in England, it uses terms like
24 "Vice-President" which are obviously American ones?
25 A. Yes.
26
27 Q. Is that the same as Board Director?
28 A. Not quite.
29
30 MR. RAMPTON: It is the corporate structure. Maybe the best
31 route would be to have one of the Americans.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is always pleasant to find someone who
34 knows less about company law than I do, but at least I am
35 familiar with -----
36
37 THE WITNESS: Directors -- some executives, some Vice-Presidents
38 are on the Board, they are elected to the Board, and one or
39 two rotate as temporary Board members.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Being a Vice-President does not necessarily
42 mean you are a Board member?
43 A. A Board Director. That is right. In fact the majority
44 are not.
45
46 Q. But you use the word "Director" in the sense of a member of
47 the Board?
48 A. Yes, we do. We have a Board that meets twice a year.
49 There are non-executive members, there are American members
50 and there are some members of the UK Executive, that are
51 Board members.
52
53 Q. Are they called Directors?
54 A. They are still called Vice-Presidents, but they are
55 also Board members. But the Executive is the policy-making
56 machine of the organisation of the Second Plaintiffs.
57
58 Q. That is different to the Board, is it?
59 A. That is different to the Board.
60
