Day 144 - 28 Jun 95 - Page 15
1 more do you seek to achieve by asking Mr. Stein questions
2 about it?
3
4 MR. MORRIS: Because to save time and -----
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: All you can do at the very best is underline
7 those obvious matters, in other words, use time to repeat
8 them.
9
10 MR. MORRIS: To save time investigating all the employment
11 conditions in the USA, then I think a useful way of doing
12 that is just to put to Mr. Stein what Mr. Nicholson said
13 the conditions on a number of issues are in the UK. If he
14 finds those -----
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I must warn you that if Mr. Stein gave an
17 answer that he takes no exception to those, or that he is
18 content that the Second Plaintiff run matters in that way
19 in this country, I would certainly not infer, therefore,
20 that is what actually happens in the United States.
21
22 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, can I just add this: I am concerned
23 about Mr. Morris' consistent (and I believe deliberate)
24 misquoting of documents. In fact, if one looks at the
25 transcript (which I have now done) what Mr. Nicholson was
26 talking about was starting rates of pay in the provinces.
27 It may be thought by Mr. Stein, if the full picture is
28 described to him by your Lordship, the question should be
29 rather a different one.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you understand what I have just put to
32 you, Mr. Morris?
33
34 MR. MORRIS: I understand that we cannot infer the conditions
35 are the same in the USA.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
38
39 MR. MORRIS: But we can infer that these are standards which
40 conform with Mr. Stein's characterisation as "excellently
41 well-run", because we cannot go into every country in the
42 world's conditions -----
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I understand that and I do not want to do
45 that, if it can be avoided. What I am warning you against
46 is assuming that because Mr. Stein is content with a
47 situation in the UK, therefore, that means that on balance
48 of probabilities that situation actually pertains in the
49 United States, because to my mind that is a non sequitur.
50
51 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I say this: If Mr. Morris is going to go
52 down that road, we have had the first example. If
53 Mr. Morris is going to put conditions in this country to
54 Mr. Stein to comment on, then he must put the conditions as
55 they are given in the evidence and not as he, Mr. Morris,
56 would like them to be. That is a classic example of his
57 not having done that.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: I asked him: "So you could not actually pay any
60 lower wages without falling foul of the law?" The answer:
