Day 169 - 04 Oct 95 - Page 49
1 fairly say: "I do not want anyone talking to the press,
2 employees at all", and that would be perfectly
3 justifiable.
4
5 If, on the other hand, it has something to hide and,
6 therefore, says: "No talking to the press", that would not
7 be justifiable. But that is the court cart and I am
8 interested in the horse, am I not? Which is right? Is it
9 because they have got something to hide, or is it because
10 they are just forced into the position because of
11 unjustifiably bad treatment in the past? That is all I am
12 saying.
13
14 MR. MORRIS: The fact is the Company itself and its
15 representatives spend one and a half billion dollars
16 communicating their image and their position, but none of
17 its employees are allowed to communicate to the media.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But we are back to the question I have just
20 posed to you, I would suggest. It is common ground, if, at
21 the end of the day, you feel you have cogent evidence of
22 various malpractices by McDonald's, then by all means say
23 to me: "That is why they do not want their employees
24 talking to the press". But that is the way round it is,
25 insofar as it helps me at all.
26
27 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): Can you remember any specific
28 features of the store the West Ealing store at that time
29 (and I do not mean later; I mean specifically in 1984 and
30 1985), any specific things, either exceptionally positive
31 or negative for the Company, that happened during that time
32 or there was a practice at that time?
33 A. Within the West Ealing branch?
34
35 Q. Yes, specifically?
36 A. I cannot remember anything that was particularly
37 outstanding about West Ealing. It was an average to well
38 run store.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Quite frankly, the silence says its own
41 answer.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: OK. (To the witness): You cannot remember any
44 incidents or any particular positive thing that happened or
45 anything particularly negative that happened? I know it is
46 a long time ago. If you cannot remember, just say you
47 cannot remember. Any particular incident, any -----
48 A. Nothing that sort of stuck in my mind as being
49 particularly different from any other store I visited.
50
51 Q. Right. You are a franchisee at the moment?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 MR. MORRIS: I know there are long silences. Actually, I am
55 saving quite a bit of time by not asking quite a few
56 questions that I was going to ask.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just sit down for a moment, Mrs. French. Can
59 I say this, if ever there was a case for getting on to hear
60 your witness, I would have thought it was this because, on
