Day 156 - 17 Jul 95 - Page 19

     
     1        disaster if we do not get to them or get to them late.
     2
     3   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.  It is a little difficult for me because, of
     4        course, I have not seen any of the three things, hormone,
     5        pesticide, residues amendment.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.
     8
     9   MR. RAMPTON:  I have not seen the food hygiene and child labour
    10        violations allegations.  I have not seen the nutrition
    11        application skeleton argument.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you find yourself in difficulty, we may
    14        have to go on to a witness and then come back but,
    15        hopefully, before the end of the week so I can hear what
    16        you have to say on those topics.  Was it Mrs. Farrer you
    17        were thinking of?
    18
    19   MR. RAMPTON:  I have Mrs. Farrer for Wednesday.  She would
    20        rather not do Thursday because she has her pensioners'
         coffee morning at McDonald's on Thursday morning.  I have
    22        her for Wednesday.
    23
    24        I have Mrs. Hall who is the nursing mother provisionally
    25        booked for Thursday, and I have Almaz Antenni from the
    26        Strand, as was, for Friday and Monday.
    27
    28        The only thing I should mention, my Lord, is that I would
    29        like to have, please, from the Defendants a pleading of
    30        their case on turnover.  All that the actual pleading says
    31        at the moment is that the turnover is high; no reasons or
    32        consequences of that are suggested.  I would like to have
    33        it in writing.  Since they read it out the other day, that
    34        should not be a problem.
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I think you should do, because you put
    37        in an alternative the other day, I think you should pick
    38        what your high water mark is in relation to that.  Then if
    39        that is supported by the evidence, and my conclusion on the
    40        evidence, there we are; if it is not but some lesser cases,
         there we are again.  But, by the same token as the
    42        Plaintiffs have been able to plead a meaning which they say
    43        the words are capable of bearing, but could fall back on
    44        some lesser meaning along the same kind of lines, what
    45        I suggest you do is plead what you say the high water mark
    46        is in relation to turnover, because until cross-examination
    47        of the witnesses I thought turnover, high turnover, was but
    48        a possible way of demonstrating that the conditions of
    49        employment at McDonald's were, I will merely say,
    50        indifferent with the result that a significant proportion 
    51        of crew left sooner rather than later. 
    52 
    53        It is if you are going beyond that, which you clearly are,
    54        that it needs elaboration.
    55
    56   MS. STEEL:   The thing is last week I did say what our position
    57        was.  Mr. Rampton made a complaint at the time which, as
    58        far as I could see, he is backed down from now.  I think he
    59        has probably recognised that there is no way that we can
    60        be -- the point is that you can plead two alternatives, as