Michael Crichton - Disclosure

Personally, I don't deal much in theory. I have to deal with the facts. And on the basis of facts, I don't see much difference in the behavior of men and women. At least, nothing that you can rely on."

"Then you believe my story?"

"Whether I believe you is not at issue. What's at issue is whether you realistically have a case, and therefore what you should do in your circumstances. I can tell you that I've heard it all before. You're not the first man I've been asked to represent, you know."

"What do you advise me to do?"

"I can't advise you," Fernandez said briskly. "The decision you face is much too difficult. I can only lay out the situation." She pushed her intercom button. "Bob, tell Richard and Eileen to bring the car around. I'll meet them in front of the building." She turned back to Sanders.

"Let me review your problems," she said. She ticked them off on her fingers. "One: you claim that you got into an intimate situation with a younger, very attractive woman but you turned her down. In the absence of witnesses or corroborating evidence, that isn't going to be an easy story to sell to a jury.

"Two: if you bring a lawsuit, the company will fire you. You're looking at three years before you come to trial. You have to think about how you'll support yourself during that time, about how you'll make your house payments, and your other expenses. I might take you on a contingency basis, but you'll still have to pay all direct costs throughout the trial. That will be a minimum of one hundred thousand dollars. I don't know whether you'll want to mortgage your house to pay for it. But it has to be dealt with.

"Three: a lawsuit will bring all this out into the open. It'll be in the papers and on the evening news for years before the trial begins. I can't adequately describe how destructive an experience that is-for you, and for your wife and family. Many families don't survive the pre-trial period intact. There are divorces, suicides, illnesses. It's very difficult.

"Four: because of theoffer oflateral transfer, it's not clear what we can claim as damages. The company will claim that you have no case, and we'll have to fight it. But even with a stunning victory, you may end up with only a couple of hundred thousand dollars after expenses and fees and three years of your life. And of course the company can appeal, delaying payment further.

"Five: if you bring a lawsuit, you'll never work in this industry again.

I know it's not supposed to work that way, but as a practical matter,

“I’11 never be hired for another That's how it goes. It would you be one thing if you were fifty-five. But you're only forty-one. I don't know if you want to make that choice, at this point in your life."

“Jesus." He slumped back in the chair.

"I'm sorry, but these are the facts of litigation."

"But it's so unjust."

She put on her raincoat. "Unfortunately, the law has nothing to do with justice, Mr. Sanders," she said. "It's merely a method for dispute resolution." She snapped her briefcase shut and extended her hand. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sanders. I wish it were different. Please feel free to call me again if you have any further questions."

She hurried out of the office, leaving him sitting there. After a moment the assistant came in. "Can I do anything for you?"

"No," Sanders said, shaking his head slowly. "No, I was just leaving."

In the car, driving to the courthouse, Louise Fernandez recounted Sanders's story to the two junior lawyers traveling with her. One lawyer, a woman, said, "You don't really believe him?"

"Who knows?" Fernandez said. "It was behind closed doors. There's never a way to know."

The young woman shook her head. "I just can't believe a woman would act that way. So aggressively."

"Why not?" Fernandez said. "Suppose this wasn't a case of harassment. Suppose this was a question of implied promise between a man and a woman. The man claims that behind closed doors he was promised a big bonus, but the woman denies it. Would you assume that the man was lying because a woman wouldn't act that way?"

"Not about that, no."

"In that situation, you'd think that anything was possible."

"But this isn't a contract," the woman said. "This is sexual behavior."

"So you think women are unpredictable in their contractual arrangements, but stereotypical in their sexual arrangements?"

The woman said, "I don't know if stereotypical is the word I'd use."

"You just said that you can't believe a woman would act aggressively in sex. Isn't that a stereotype?"

"Well, no," the woman said. "It's not a stereotype, because it's true. Women are different from men when it comes to sex."

"And black people have rhythm," Fernandez said. "Asians are workaholics. And Hispanics don't confront…"

"But this is different. I mean, there are studies about this. Men and women don't even talk to each other the same way."

"Oh, you mean like the studies that show that women are less good at business and strategic thinking?"

"No. Those studies are wrong."

"I see. Those studies are wrong. But the studies about sexual differences are right?"

"Well, sure. Because sex is fundamental. It's a primal drive."

"I don't see why. It's used for all sorts of purposes. As a way of relating, a way of placating, a way of provoking, as an offer, as a weapon, as a threat. It can be quite complicated, the ways sex is used. Haven't you found that to be true?"

The woman crossed her arms. "I don't think so."

Speaking for the first time, the young man said, "So what'd you tell this guy? Not to litigate?"

"No. But I told him his problems."

"What do you think he should do?"

"I don't know," Fernandez said. "But I know what he should have done."

"What?"

"It's terrible to say it," she said. "But in the real world? With no witnesses? Alone in the office with his boss? He probably should have shut up and fucked her. Because right now, that poor bastard has no options at all. If he's not careful, his life is over."

Sanders walked slowly back down the hill toward Pioneer Square. The rain had stopped, but the afternoon was still damp and gray. The wet pavement beneath his feet sloped steeply downward. Around him the tops of the skyscrapers disappeared into the low-hanging, chilly mist.

He was not sure what he had expected to hear from Louise Fernandez, but it was certainly not a detailed account of the possibility of his being fired, mortgaging his house, and never working again.

Sanders felt overwhelmed by the sudden turn that his life had taken, and by a realization of the precariousness of his existence. Two days ago, he was an established executive with a stable position and a promising future. Now he faced disgrace, humiliation, loss of his job. All sense of security had vanished.

He thought of all the questions Fernandez had asked him-questions that had never occurred to him before. Why hadn't he told anyone. Why hadn't he made notes. Why hadn't he told Meredith explicitly that her advances were unwelcome. Fernandez operated in a world of rules and distinctions that he did not understand, that had never crossed his mind. And now those distinctions turned out to be vitally important.

Your situation is not good, Mr.Sanders.

And yet… how could he have prevented this? What should he have done instead? He considered the possibilities.

Suppose he had called Blackburn right after the meeting with Meredith, and had told him in detail that Meredith had harassed him. He could have called from the ferry, lodged his complaint before she lodged hers. Would it have made a difference? What would Blackburn have done?

He shook his head, thinking about it. It seemed unlikely that anything would make a difference. Because in the end, Meredith was tied in to the power structure of the company in a way that Sanders was not. Meredith was a corporate player; she had power, allies. That was the message the final message-of this situation. Sanders didn't count. He was just a technical guy, a cog in the corporate wheels. His job was to get along with his new boss, and he had failed to do that. Whatever he did now was just whining. Or worse: ratting on the boss. Whistleblowing. And nobody liked a whistle-blower.