Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 15


     
     1        A.  Yes, I do know Mr. John Cook.
     2
     3   Q.   Does he still work for McDonald's?
     4        A.  No, he does not.  John has been retired, I want to say,
     5        three or four years.
     6
     7   Q.   Did you get to know Mr. Cook when you first joined the
     8        organisation?
     9        A.  Yes, I did.
    10
    11   Q.   Did you work with Mr. Cook?
    12        A.  Yes, Mr. John Cook hired me.
    13
    14   Q.   He hired you?
    15        A.  Yes.
    16
    17   Q.   I see.
    18        A.  He was the Head of Human Resources.
    19
    20   Q.   So you are wearing his shoes; is that right?
    21        A.  Yes.
    22
    23   Q.   The shoes he used to wear.  Did he have a flying squad?
    24        A.  There was a term "flying squad" that was used in the
    25        Company back in the 70s when I joined the Company.  It was
    26        a term that was used generally around the Company by the
    27        Market Department, by the Accounting Department, virtually
    28        every department.  These were people in Oak Brook who when
    29        there were some local needs, whether it be a marketing
    30        need, or accounting need, or whatever the needs are, that
    31        these people would go to that place and provide the
    32        consulting advice.  It was not a sinister thing.
    33
    34   Q.   I was going to ask you.  This may be a difference of
    35        culture or terminology.  Does the Chicago Police Department
    36        have a wing or body called the Flying Squad?
    37        A.  Not that I am aware of.
    38
    39   Q.   No.  It is just the Metropolitan Police does or used to
    40        have such a thing; it has a different connotation perhaps
    41        in this country?
    42        A.  OK.  The reason, if I can for a second, in the 70s
    43        McDonald's did not have the infrastructure of the 40
    44        regions that it has today.  It did not have the
    45        infrastructure of support departments on a regional basis,
    46        so that meant in virtually every department in Oak Brook a
    47        handful of people were the folks who needed to attend to
    48        issues across the country.
    49
    50        For example, when I joined the Human Resource group, 
    51        altogether I think there were seven people in the entire 
    52        nation.  So, if issues came up, recruiting issues or 
    53        compensation issues, or a labour issue, people who had
    54        experience in that area would provide assistance.
    55
    56   Q.   Why the word flying?
    57        A.  Because they could get on an aeroplane and go.
    58
    59   Q.   It is literal?
    60        A.  Yes.  Aeroplanes in the US, while not obviously in

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