Day 216 - 06 02 96 - Page 37

 
 

                                                                  DAY 216
 
                                          KEVIN HARRISON, Cross-examined:
 
 
 
     1   Q.   Is this the position, that, in effect, the Manager who does
     2        it (including, apparently, you) was telling lies to the
     3        Company about the amount of money that had been taken; is
     4        that what it means?
     5        A.  It was a way of manipulating things so that the figures
     6        were acceptable to people in a higher managerial position.
     7        There would have been questions raised if serious
     8        shortfalls had been present in the tills.
     9
    10   Q.   Let me get it right.  Is it a way of dishonestly inflating
    11        the amount of the sales so that they appeared to have been
    12        higher than they actually were?
    13        A.  No, it was not really to do with the sales; it was to
    14        do with the amount of money missing from the tills at
    15        cashing up, over a period of time, perhaps a week.
    16
    17   Q.   You mean people were stealing the money and you had to
    18        cover up the discrepancy; is that what it means?
    19        A.  It is a possibility.
    20
    21   Q.   Well, how did the cash discrepancies, the minuses, how did
    22        they occur?
    23        A.  Bad cash handling, incorrect floats.
    24
    25   Q.   It is a way of covering up missing sums of money; is that
    26        right?
    27        A.  Yes, in effect.
    28
    29   Q.   In what sense do you attribute that malpractice to the
    30        Company?  Why has it got anything to do with McDonald's?
    31        It is individual dishonesty, is it not?
    32        A.  When it is sanctioned by the Store Manager, then it
    33        becomes an issue for McDonald's.
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But the only person who can suffer is the
    36        Company; the customer does not suffer?
    37        A. Ultimately, yes, the Company suffers.
    38
    39   Q.   In what way?  Yes, but no one else suffers but the Company,
    40        do they?
    41        A.  No, but it is a way of manipulating things, as I have
    42        already said, to the satisfaction of more senior
    43        management.  It is part of the system in operation at store
    44        level, to make the figures acceptable to people in
    45        supervisory positions.
    46
    47   Q.   I want to make clear that I have not missed something.
    48        Crew do not suffer because of it?
    49        A.  In what way?  No.
    50 
    51   Q.   That is the answer to my question, then.  Customers do not 
    52        suffer from it? 
    53        A.  No.  But, surely, the issue we are talking about is
    54        this practice in relation to what else goes on in
    55        McDonald's ---
    56
    57   Q.   No.  That is a matter -----
    58        A.  -- as a whole?
    59
    60   Q.   All I am trying to do is make sure I have understood it.
 
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