Day 171 - 11 Oct 95 - Page 37


     
     1        see when you look at the employment evidence overall --
     2        and, indeed, perhaps all the evidence, but particularly the
     3        employment evidence -- is that the Company does take steps
     4        to ensure that its policies are enforced in practice and
     5        that when things go wrong it does actually deal with them.
     6        So that is, I quite agree, a feature of the case.
     7
     8        It has never troubled me, as I have said repeatedly to your
     9        Lordship, as a feature of the case that from time to time
    10        in X, Y or Z-ville, a manager or whatever, a restaurant,
    11        may get things wrong; that does not trouble me in the
    12        least.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what I had in mind about a memo, memos
    15        as well, by the same line of thinking.  So suppose there is
    16        no F performance reviews, but there is a D or an E for
    17        something else, and then one finds that there is a memo
    18        saying: "If you only did this, you would not have that
    19        trouble in the future", Mr. Morris would say that I should
    20        attach significance to the fact it has gone wrong in the
    21        first place, and you would say:  "Well, no.  Things do go
    22        wrong."  It was Mr. Beavers, was it not, who said: "We make
    23        mistakes now and again, but we get to grips with them and
    24        make sure they do not happen in the future"?
    25
    26   MR. RAMPTON:  I have to say that I think that is true of all the
    27        leading McDonald's witnesses and, indeed, some of the
    28        others as well.  Seen like that, I have absolutely no
    29        problem with it at all.  My fear is that, as ever -- I do
    30        not know this for certain -- maybe we get an audit form
    31        which says that the store is doing badly in this area or
    32        that; then Mr. Morris and Ms. Steel get obsessed by what
    33        happened in that particular case, and we spend another I do
    34        not know how many hours or days of trial investigating
    35        whether or not that particular criticism was well founded
    36        or not.  One cannot assume from the fact that Head Office
    37        says "We are not happy with this" that it was the case.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL: It seems to me there is a limit as to the
    40        amount of time which could be spent, because all we are
    41        contemplating at the moment is possible recall of
    42        Mr. Richards, who will by then have looked at any documents
    43        which your experience and judgment tells you he may be
    44        asked about on recall -- and fair enough that you would not
    45        approach him about any criticisms you do find, if any -----
    46
    47   MR. RAMPTON:  There are bound to be some.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL: We have Mr. Logan.  We might or might not have
    50        at the end of the day two or three other witnesses. 
    51        Mr. Morris has not suggested it would arise, but if it did 
    52        arise I would not favour any suggestion that one of the 
    53        higher executives be recalled in order that it be put to
    54        them it is symptomatic of some general disease.  That does
    55        not appeal to me at all.  To be fair to Mr. Morris, he has
    56        not suggested that.  I would obviously hear any argument
    57        about it, and it would either appeal or not appeal.
    58
    59        But I am not trying to persuade you.  I am just putting
    60        forward, so that you can deal with them if you wish,

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