Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 05
1 relevance of executives' remuneration to the question of
2 low pay. I will listen carefully to any argument you
3 develop in due course as to whether X pounds an hour or Y
4 dollars an hour, bearing in mind what one can imagine about
5 the cost of living, is low pay. I will listen with
6 particular interest to any evidence which is called to
7 compare McDonald's hourly rate with hourly rates in other
8 industries, perhaps, but for people doing comparable work
9 in judging whether the pay is low.
10
11 But, I cannot see that the remuneration of executives has
12 any relevance to the question of whether crew members
13 receive low pay in the context of what is written in this
14 leaflet. That is a ruling which I now make, so that it is
15 understood throughout the rest of the evidence.
16
17 MS. STEEL: Do you think your wages are high?
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I am sorry. I have made a very clear
20 ruling. Concentrate, if you will, on the pay of crew
21 members which is what the leaflet is about.
22
23 MS. STEEL: Yes, and it is about low pay compared to
24 something -----
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have heard my ruling.
27
28 MS. STEEL: I wanted to approach it from a different way. I am
29 not going to ask Mr. Beavers specifically what his wages
30 are. I want to know whether he thinks his wages are high
31 and whether he is embarrassed by it.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have ruled against you asking that
34 question. It is another way of -----
35
36 MS. STEEL: If I may say so, on the previous occasion there was
37 not a ruling made. Mr. Beavers was going to look into
38 whether or not the information was available. We have got
39 hold of Company documents or reports from the Company which
40 indicate that Mr. Quinlan earned in excess of $2.5 million.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not.
43
44 MS. STEEL: If it is public information, I do not really see
45 there is any reason why we should not discuss it in court.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If it is public information, you can discuss
48 it where you like except in court when I have ruled that it
49 is not relevant to any issue in the case.
50
51 MS. STEEL: If I may say so, I think that you have just made a
52 judgment based on politics rather than on -----
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No.
55
56 MS. STEEL: Because it a matter of opinion what you are
57 comparing something with. We are entitled to compare low
58 wages with the high wages of the executives.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You must observe my ruling.
