Day 174 - 17 Oct 95 - Page 36
1 A. No. I mean, there is an obligation to keep them for a
2 certain length of time; I believe that is five years.
3
4 Q. Are you aware that Mr. Anthony Brian and Mr. Connor McCann
5 claimed unfair dismissal and took their case to the Rights
6 Commissioner, and that the Rights Commissioner found that
7 their dismissal for trade union activities was unfair?
8 A. Yes, I am aware that they took the case to the Rights
9 Commissioner, but I think, if I remember correctly, the
10 Rights Commissioner's judgment was that because the Company
11 were unable to supply a witness, who was no longer with the
12 Company, that they judged them to be unfairly dismissed.
13
14 Q. For trade union activity?
15 A. I think that is what it said in this judgment.
16
17 Q. Yes. Do you accept that?
18 A. No, I do not.
19
20 Q. Mr. Trimble, is he employed by the Company now?
21 A. No, he is not; he left our employment.
22
23 Q. When did he leave the employment?
24 A. I could not tell you the date but, having re-read the
25 correspondence in connection with the two employees you are
26 talking about, he left our Company and he went abroad. But
27 I cannot tell you the date; I cannot recall that. I am
28 sorry.
29
30 Q. You do not even remember what year he left the Company?
31 A. Yes, I think I remember that. It was 1985.
32
33 Q. Did he go to a McDonald's elsewhere in the world?
34 A. Not that I am aware of. What I was aware of is, he
35 emigrated to Australia.
36
37 Q. It was only a matter of months between the dismissals of
38 Mr. Brian and Mr. McCann and the hearing in front of the
39 Rights Commissioner, was it not?
40 A. If you are looking at the dates, that is correct, if
41 that is the situation.
42
43 Q. The dismissals were in June 1985 and the hearing in front
44 of the Rights Commissioner was at the end of October 1985?
45 A. Yes. That is within months, yes.
46
47 Q. Did Mr. Trimble suddenly leave for Australia without giving
48 you any notice that he was going?
49 A. No. The reason I can recall him leaving the Company
50 was, I had sent him for some training abroad in the
51 previous year and, having gone to the expense of that
52 training for a number of weeks, he left shortly after he
53 opened that restaurant in 1985.
54
55 Q. The Nutgrove store?
56 A. Yes, that is correct, which opened in January.
57 I cannot recall the month he left, but I know at the time,
58 having reflected on it, I was disappointed because I had
59 taken the time to send them for some special training for
60 that particular type of restaurant -- which was, in fact,
