Day 202 - 11 Jan 96 - Page 17


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Find out if there were reports of the
     2        meetings.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:  I am trying to identify, if there were reports, who
     5        would be responsible for doing them.  I mean, surely, when
     6        a Manager is disgruntled and has problems and there is a
     7        number of meetings occurring involving quite senior
     8        personnel, what would be the normal -----
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Why do you not ask first of all if there were
    11        written reports or minutes, and then, if you do not like
    12        the answer, test it?  But find out first of all what this
    13        witness's evidence is about whether there ever were such
    14        reports.
    15
    16   MR. MORRIS:  Were there any such reports about this whole
    17        process?
    18        A.  There is no report about the meetings.  Nothing was
    19        written about the meeting that I had with Ray, no.
    20
    21   Q.   Is the Company ashamed about this series of meetings for
    22        some reason?
    23        A.  Absolutely not.  There is nothing to be ashamed of.
    24        I am quite proud of the way it was handled with Ray.  It
    25        was a sensitive situation coming to, you know, with an
    26        employee that worked for us for a long time, and I was
    27        quite pleased in a mature and adult way that we spoke to
    28        him about these problems.  I think it is a credit to the
    29        Company that we could talk to him on that level about
    30        options such as retraining, options such as looking at
    31        another job.  If he was generally having difficulties, then
    32        we had an interest in him, that whatever action would ensue
    33        that was, you know, right for him and right for the Company
    34        as well.
    35
    36   Q.   So, you are saying that that is normal practice, that when
    37        a Manager is having serious problems that may lead to him
    38        leaving the Company -- as he says, one of being victimised
    39        or whatever, or personality clash or over-pressured, and
    40        you say it is because he cannot cope with the job -- it is
    41        normal not to make any records?
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just pause a moment, because -----
    44
    45   MR. MORRIS:  I am trying to see if it is normal.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have to say that you are not putting a
    48        situation which I recognise from this witness's evidence.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  Right. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What you are putting is what your case is 
    53        about it, because it is your case that Mr. Coton was
    54        victimised.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  I just said that was our side, and I said their
    57        side was that he was unable to fulfil -----
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But what you are doing for the purpose of the
    60        question is assuming that at that time there was a

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