Day 144 - 28 Jun 95 - Page 18
1 would that concern you?
2 A. My Lord, I would need to understand the entire context.
3 I cannot pick out an isolated item not knowing what the
4 context was in which it arose. There are many
5 different -----
6
7 Q. Would it concern you if people at a McDonald's restaurant
8 were working consecutive eight hour shifts?
9 A. I would hope that that would not be a common practice.
10
11 Q. Would it concern you if it happened at all?
12 A. In the US, my Lord, it would. In the UK, I do not know
13 what the common practice is, so I cannot comment on that
14 for another country. Again, my Lord, I need to understand
15 the context in which it arose and what it was all about.
16 It could have been -- my Lord, to give you an example?
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We cannot tell you because we have only heard
19 part, if any, of the evidence in relation to it so far.
20 A. My Lord, if I can give you an example? In the US when
21 there was the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City, we were
22 supplying food to the Red Cross and other victims, and
23 I know that several of our people worked long hours --
24 longer than I would normally want them to. So, I need to
25 understand the context in which it would have arisen.
26
27 Q. Do you have any difficulty just generally accepting that it
28 would be wrong to work someone two consecutive eight hour
29 shifts unless there is some extraordinary situation such as
30 the Oklahoma bombing?
31 A. I would like it to be a rare situation. My Lord, I
32 just gave you an example where I think it happened in the
33 US, but there can be some rare examples where it might
34 happen.
35
36 Q. It should not happen just because you have got your
37 scheduling in a twist ---
38 A. Not as a regular -----
39
40 Q. -- or because someone has let you down even, should it?
41 A. Not as a regular practice, my Lord. There could be
42 some emergency situations but it is something you would not
43 want to build into a regular practice.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: McDonald's own witness in his statement ---
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, do not bother.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: -- does say that sometimes people work double
50 shifts.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Morris, phrase it as a question of what
53 the situation is. (To the witness): If it was happening
54 from time to time in one particular restaurant, what would
55 you think about that?
56 A. My Lord, it can happen from time to time, but I would
57 hope that the management of the restaurant would make it a
58 rare thing rather than something that happens frequently.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I actually think it is very difficult to ask
