Day 139 - 21 Jun 95 - Page 47
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That may not matter.
3 A. The last paragraph just mentions that -- and it was an
4 isolated incident -- and the fact that we had been aware of
5 it since the licensee informed us of it, sure.
6
7 MS. STEEL: Can I just ask: you mentioned about sending someone
8 to check the records once you became aware of this?
9 A. That is correct.
10
11 Q. But you had not checked his records prior to that, prior to
12 the fact that this had been discovered by the state
13 authorities?
14 A. Wait a minute. I am sorry, you are confusing me.
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16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is being put to you is that McDonald's
17 had not checked McCale managements records, or the records
18 of their stores, McDonald's stores, before the citation
19 came to McDonald's the attention?
20 A. My Lord, I think I had already mentioned ----
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22 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, we heard a good deal about this morning,
23 whether it was Ms. Steel or Mr. Morris; they were both in
24 this court. He has already answered a whole string of
25 questions about this this morning. He said, in effect,
26 that they leave it to the local authorities. If the local
27 authorities do not turn anything up, they are so thorough
28 that one can be culpable and everything is all right.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I must say that that is not the way
31 I understood the evidence. The way I understood it is that
32 field representatives did checks?
33 A. Yes.
34
35 Q. Of course they might not turn things up, but you knew also
36 that local State and Federal Authorities were checking and
37 you reckon between the four of you, someone would pick
38 something up. That is what I understood you to say?
39 A. Yes, my Lord.
40
41 MR. RAMPTON: I accept that is a fair account.
42 A. That is correct, my Lord.
43
44 MS. STEEL: How often do company representatives check on those
45 types of records on franchisees?
46 A. In our field, consultants visit stores periodically,
47 every couple of months, every 3 months. They would be in
48 the stores and would do various spot checks. That is how
49 often.
50
51 Q. When you say "spot checks", do they go through the books
52 systemically or do they turn up a couple of pages and check
53 whether they look as though they are right?
54 A. They would turn over a few pages, the same way,
55 frankly, the investigators do from the State or Federal or
56 Local Authority, and if they see something that strikes
57 them, then they would go deeper, but if they do not see
58 something that strikes them, it would be a spot check. The
59 presumption is, because our operators generally do a very,
60 very good job in this area, that it is not a major problem
