Day 120 - 03 May 95 - Page 58
1 done. The first question was whether it happened at all
2 and, if so, to what extent. If you establish, either
3 directly or by inference, that it was happening to a
4 considerable extent, then you have made your point against
5 McDonald's so far as this area is concerned. I am finding
6 it difficult to see how it adds any more to the case what
7 Mr. Nicholson would have done in those circumstances.
8
9 I have to say that it is my experience that the longer
10 anyone is in a job which presents them with various
11 problems, the more inclined they are when asked:
12 "What would you do if this happened?" to say: "Well, I
13 would wait and if it happened I would look into all the
14 facts and decide what was appropriate then". In fact, a
15 McDonald's witness earlier in the case said that the
16 attitude was, first, establish the facts and then take
17 whatever was thought to be the appropriate action.
18
19 You are either, at the end of the day, going to establish
20 that these malpractices took place or not. If you
21 establish that they did to any significant degree, you have
22 made your point; if you do not establish it, it does not
23 matter a fig what Mr. Nicholson would have done if they had
24 happened.
25
26 MS. STEEL: I think it does indicate a certain attitude on the
27 part of the Company, but I will leave it there.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you establish that the practices took
30 place, you have probably won that to any significant
31 degree, rather than it being some wayward manager who is
32 using this as a ruse to avoid the legal requirements and
33 getting away with it unbeknown to more senior management.
34 We have really got to look at what the evidence establishes
35 at the end of the day.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: Yes, but if the Company does not take that kind of
38 matter seriously or does not take any action, then it is
39 not a wayward manager; it is something which is part of the
40 culture of the Company.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I cannot keep repeating it. All I can say
43 is do not really think your argument, which may be a good
44 one, is advanced by asking Mr. Nicholson to apply his mind
45 to a problem which he says did not exist, as far as he was
46 concerned.
47
48 MS. STEEL: Can I just ask one thing? (To the witness): The
49 staff that go to the stores from Head Office or regional
50 office, or whatever, to check on payroll matters, if there
51 are a lot of "miscellaneous" payments made or "bonus"
52 payments, or whatever, do they look into that and ask about
53 that?
54 A. Yes, in addition to the Operational staff and the Field
55 Personnel staff who look at it from different angles, there
56 is an audit. There is a team of auditors, a Company team
57 of auditors who go and they pick up these. They ask the
58 questions and they find out the answers and they submit a
59 report.
60
