Day 312 - 11 Dec 96 - Page 30


     
     1
     2        (B), in any event, there ought to be privilege akin to the
     3        general defence in crime that a person publishing words is
     4        doing so in order to defend or safeguard the right or
     5        rights of others, particularly in this case the rights of
     6        employees, children and animals.  And, for example, the
     7        evidence is that it is a "summary sackable offence" for any
     8        UK McDonald's employee to report details of working
     9        conditions to an outside third party, including media and
    10        trade unions, and that is even about illegalities, which
    11        Mr. Nicholson, McDonald's UK former Head of Personnel,
    12        testified would lead to a reprimand.  Therefore, these
    13        employees are unable to exercise freedom of speech without
    14        risking their livelihood and they need someone to defend
    15        their interests, especially in the light of the Company's
    16        unlawful contractual prescription against any kind of trade
    17        union activity.
    18
    19        The low pay, hard work and lack of rights experienced by
    20        people with few job prospects can be considered an attack,
    21        which we say would justify privileged self-defence by
    22        others taking up their interests for them.
    23
    24        Additionally, by way of example, the evidence is that the
    25        Company target children with their advertising, and they
    26        use techniques which are gathered to have an emotional
    27        response in children, and that is especially in relation to
    28        their ronald mcdonald marketing tool, and that the
    29        Corporation senior vice president of marketing in the USA
    30        agreed that "children are virgin ground so far as marketing
    31        is concerned".  Therefore, as children are clearly unable
    32        to protect themselves from the effect of such marketing and
    33        need someone to defend their interests, they need someone
    34        to protect them from this type of attack.
    35
    36        The last example is the evidence that tens of millions of
    37        animals reared and slaughtered under McDonald's use in the
    38        UK suffer, at all stages of their unnatural and short lives
    39        -- and suffering was admitted to be inevitable by
    40        Mr. Walker, the owner of McDonald's UK-sold hamburger
    41        supply.  It is clear that animals are completely
    42        defenceless and need somebody to defend their interests and
    43        to protect them from this attack.
    44
    45        We therefore submit that the distribution of the words
    46        complained of and similar ones, which have the character of
    47        a response to the continuing and real attacks as outlined
    48        above, are protected by the defence of qualified and
    49        privileged self-defence.
    50
    51        We note that McDonald's claims such a privilege for the
    52        response to the mere expressions of opinion against the
    53        Plaintiffs...  There were a couple of words missing there.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    56
    57   MS. STEEL:   -- which it should be emphasised has a huge
    58        advertising and promotions budget and phenomenally
    59        successful PR department to put over its point of view and,
    60        in contrast, the abovementioned effect of the Company on

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