Day 151 - 10 Jul 95 - Page 07
1 might be going to have a baby the next week; she might like
2 her job, but she also might like the idea of having a
3 baby.
4
5 MR. MORRIS: (Inaudible) soonest possible opportunity.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know. But this is all the argument on the
8 evidence which I have, is it not?
9
10 MR. MORRIS: (To the witness) That relates also to an answer
11 you gave -- if I can find it -- about that never in your
12 experience has anybody returned after a gap of three years.
13
14 MR. ATKINSON: My Lord, he did not say that it never happened;
15 he said it was not common.
16
17 MR. MORRIS: He said he never came across a three year gap;
18 those are his words. If someone wants to find the
19 reference to it -----
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That was in a slightly different context,
22 because your questioning in relation to that was whether
23 they would come back at the same wage, and he said he just
24 had not had that situation.
25
26 MR. MORRIS: Yes. After more than three years, he never knew of
27 anyone who had returned, having left McDonald's more than
28 three years previously.
29
30 (To the witness) Do not you draw any conclusions from
31 that?
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me make sure I understand, first of all.
34 Are you aware of anyone coming back to McDonald's after a
35 three year gap?
36 A. No.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I suggest is you ask him what
39 conclusion you would suggest he draws from that, rather
40 than just: "What conclusion would you draw from that?"
41
42 MR. MORRIS: The conclusion I would draw is that once people
43 have seen better opportunities, they do not go back to
44 McDonald's.
45 A. I think you are wrong. Better opportunities? If you
46 are talking about a student who finishes their course and
47 then goes on to either postgraduate study or goes on to
48 another job, then I guess the opportunities, in their own
49 personal mind, would have been better. But the idea of not
50 returning after three years would suggest that any summer
51 job that I had was poor and unsatisfying, because I did not
52 return there within a three year period. I think, with
53 respect, it is the wrong conclusion to draw -- assuming
54 they left voluntarily, of course. If they had left
55 involuntarily, then, yes, they would not have come back.
56 If a crew member had been dismissed for poor cash handling,
57 or whatever, I doubt if they would have a very good picture
58 of the company.
59
60 Q. So it is just a staggering coincidence, is it, that if
