Day 134 - 13 Jun 95 - Page 49
1 Q. Do you think it is substantial percentage, five, 10, 15 per
2 cent?
3 A. I do not think I could really hazard a guess. It may
4 be five or 10 per cent.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you enquire? There is a certain of body
7 of opinion which would think the last thing an employer
8 should do is ask a woman whether she has children or not?
9 A. No, we do not enquire about that.
10
11 MR. MORRIS: If you do not enquire, you would not even know,
12 would you?
13 A. No. That is why I said I did not know and I could only
14 comment anecdotally.
15
16 Q. So when the Company makes public utterances about
17 housewives -- I think we have it in various documents --
18 being employed by McDonald's because of the suitable hours
19 and arrangements that can be made, that is not based on any
20 information or -----
21 A. Just because we do not have a document and figures, it
22 does not mean the people do not exist. They do exist and
23 they work in our restaurants. I have seen them over many
24 years. Some of them I have known for 15 years, so
25 I believe that while I do not know what weight legally that
26 holds, that would suggest to me that that is fact.
27
28 Q. So, if it is a fact that women with children are a
29 particularly disadvantage group in society, yes?
30 A. I think that is a bit of a sweeping statement. It
31 depends disadvantaged in what way? They may feel they have
32 advantages because they have children and I do not have
33 children, you know, I do not know what point you are
34 making.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: I do not know why Mr. Rampton makes loud
37 suggestions to the witness. It is a perfectly sensible
38 suggestion. It is up to the witness to decide.
39
40 MR. RAMPTON: No, no, it is not, my Lord. There must be some
41 foundation for it.
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think the difficulty is you put it as if
44 that is so as the preparation for the next question.
45
46 MR. MORRIS: I put it as a question.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You did because you added "yes" at the end in
49 a questioning point of view, but you started off: "So if
50 it is a fact that women with children are particularly
51 disadvantaged" as if no-one could contemplate that that was
52 wrong. You may be right, you may be wrong, about that, but
53 all you have to do is ask whether the witness would accept
54 that that is so. Then we will see where you can go from
55 whatever answer you get.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: Would you accept that women with children are often
58 financially or generally financially disadvantaged in terms
59 of their income, their disposable income, for themselves?
60 A. I think it depends on whether or not they are managing
