Day 140 - 22 Jun 95 - Page 12
1 personnel matters at that time, 6th February, 1973?
2 A. He was responsible for Human Resources, if that is that
3 you are asking.
4
5 Q. Right, OK. In paragraph 6, John Cook says:
6
7 "The firms who specialise in giving the polygraph do not
8 hire professionally trained psychologists or behavioural
9 scientists to conduct these analyses or interpret these
10 results. Not only do they not hire professionals, they are
11 not careful about the mental balance of the individuals who
12 are hired. It is my observation over the past 25 years
13 that at almost every polygraph test there is a man driven
14 by a need to search out people, decide guilt, judge and
15 punish these people, whether guilty or not."
16
17 Then he goes on about the Inquisition, which we do not need
18 to look at.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is that typical Cook style?
21 A. I was going to say it was hyperbole, yes. Mr. Cook,
22 when he had a point of view on something, had a style
23 similar to this, which is why I am chuckling. He is trying
24 to mass every possible conceivable reason for his point of
25 view, and he does it with I call it hyperbole. That is his
26 style.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Just a couple more questions. He says: "These
29 tests are the same kind of people who were responsible for
30 the Inquisition."
31
32 Then in point 7:
33
34 "I believe that our indiscriminate support of polygraph
35 testing can become a major union organising tool, because
36 it is emotionally repugnant to the crew person as well as
37 to his family. The union will score more points than the
38 entire process of testing can win for us."
39
40 Did John Cook tell you why no action had been taken by him,
41 as Head of Human Resources, against these repugnant
42 Gestapo-type polygraph tests on crew which he was so
43 strongly against? Did he say anything, why he had not
44 taken action until the San Francisco Labour Authorities
45 threatened legal action and the unions mounted opposition,
46 a publicity campaign on that subject?
47 A. My understanding is that, when I came on board, and the
48 understanding I had was that this was an area that our
49 legal department handled; Mr. John Cook did not handle.
50 However, Mr. John Cook was never reticent to express a very
51 strong opinion on things.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Who were Mr. Cameron and Mr. Schmidt?
54 A. Mr. Schmidt would have been, at that time, I believe,
55 the President of McDonald's. No, he would not be CEO.
56 Fred Turner would be CEO. But this would be the gentleman
57 who would -- Ed Rensi would have his current position; so
58 Mr. Schmidt was the President, if you will; and Mr. Cameron
59 would have been just underneath Mr. Schmidt, Executive Vice
60 President. So Mr. Cook, if this is from John and it was
