Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 29
1 MR. MORRIS: I am trying to test that, whether it is -----
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What you say is it is not enough to say: "We
4 have a policy on that" if it is observed more in the
5 breach, etc.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL (To the witness): Can you answer the
10 question? You do not have to name any particular name, at
11 least for the moment, but can you give an example of
12 someone higher than store management who has been dismissed
13 for breach of a McDonald's ethic policy, philosophy,
14 whatever?
15 A. Yes, I can. I did not want to embarrass anyone
16 or .....
17
18 Q. Do not name the person, at least for the moment; if need
19 be, you can write the name down if it comes to needing a
20 name, but give an example.
21 A. Harassment, sexual harassment, would be one; improper
22 conduct. Those would be two examples.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: Yes, I understand that, the behaviour of a person,
25 but I am talking more in terms of infringement of some
26 general policy maybe, for example, knowingly purchasing,
27 you know, beef products that had some additions or fillers
28 put in the beef to make it a cheaper product or something
29 which is against McDonald's policy, yes; they have got what
30 the ingredients of a burger should be, someone in a
31 position fairly high up might knowingly -----
32 A. Nothing like that. We have too many checks and
33 balances within the system for that to occur.
34
35 Q. I am just thinking of example like that, where there are
36 transgressions -----
37 A. No, I think we have too many checks and balances in the
38 system for that to occur, to be very specific. The
39 examples that I gave you were cases where a policy was
40 violated.
41
42 Q. Individual behaviour?
43 A. The behaviour of the individual and actions that that
44 individual took were clear violations of policy and they
45 were dismissed.
46
47 Q. I understand that, but in terms of breaches of not
48 behavioural standards but policy that has been set by the
49 Company in its general business practices -- has anyone
50 been dismissed for that?
51 A. Yes. As I indicated, we have a stated policy on sexual
52 harassment.
53
54 Q. No, I understand that, but that applies to personal
55 behaviour. I am not saying it is not an important thing,
56 but I am trying to see whether McDonald's says, for
57 example, to the public it has a policy on this, it has a
58 policy on packaging, it has a policy on beef content,
59 hamburger content, it has a policy on whatever; is there an
60 example of anyone being sacked?
