Day 137 - 19 Jun 95 - Page 63
1 that would not have it) that the courts by their direction
2 said: "You need to use words of art and be very specific
3 if you want to avoid this life-long employment obligation".
4
5 Q. I understand.
6 A. Because otherwise they would infer that obligation
7 based upon even limited assertions by the employee.
8
9 Q. So is the position in reality now this, if I have
10 understood you, Mr. Stein, that McDonald's cannot terminate
11 its employees' contracts, if that is what I may call them
12 at will, without just cause?
13 A. That is correct.
14
15 Q. What sort of thing, what kind of behaviour, whatever it may
16 be, would constitute just cause in the eyes of an American
17 court?
18 A. You are going to run the entire spectrum of things,
19 I will give you some examples.
20
21 Q. Yes, just a few obvious examples?
22 A. Obviously, some of the glaring ones would be
23 dishonesty.
24
25 Q. Dishonesty, yes?
26 A. Others would be poor performance, but backed up by
27 specific performance reviews that highlighted the
28 performance issues, gave the individual sufficient time to
29 correct those performance deficiencies and then the
30 individual over sufficient period of time did not solve
31 those performance deficiencies.
32
33 Q. So would not be any good for the Manager to go up to the
34 employee and say: "Well, you did not know it but I have
35 been dissatisfied with your performance for six months; you
36 are out"?
37 A. That would be what I would call a losing situation.
38
39 Q. When you dismiss somebody without just cause, what redress
40 does the employee have, what sort of compensation or remedy
41 can he get?
42 A. First and foremost, his reinstatement, back pay and
43 then beyond that are more, I do not want to call exotic
44 things, but punitive damages.
45
46 Q. Sort of hurt feelings, that kind of thing?
47 A. Yes.
48
49 Q. Wounded pride?
50 A. Yes, this would get into those areas.
51
52 Q. Would those cases, if they got to a court, be tried by a
53 judge or by a jury in the United States?
54 A. Generally by Jury.
55
56 Q. From your experience, Mr. Stein, are juries generous with
57 employers' money or stingy?
58 A. Especially when it is a large employer, they are
59 extremely generous.
60
