Michael Crichton - Disclosure

she are both our trusted employees. How do you expect us to decide who to believe?"

"That's your problem, Phil. All I have to say is, I'm innocent. And I'm prepared to sue."

Blackburn stood in the middle of the room, frowning. "Louise Fernandez is a smart attorney. I can't believe she recommended this course of action to you."

"No. This is my decision."

"Then it's very unwise," Blackburn said. "You are putting the company in a very difficult position."

"The company is putting me in a difficult position."

"I don't know what to say," Phil said. "I hope this doesn't force us to terminate you."

Sanders stared at him, meeting his gaze evenly. "I hope not, too," he said. "But I don't have confidence that the company has takenmycomplaint seriously. I'll fill out a formal charge of sexual harassment with Bill Everts in HR later today. And I'm asking Louise to draw up the necessary papers to file with the state Human Rights Commission."

"Christ."

"She should file first thing tomorrow morning."

"I don't see what the rush is."

"There's no rush. It's just a filing. To get the complaint on record. I'm required to do that."

"But this is very serious, Tom."

"I know it, Phil."

"I'd like to ask you to do me a favor, as your friend."

"What's that?"

"Hold off the formal complaint. At least, with the HRC. Give us a chance to conduct an in-house investigation before you take this outside."

"But you aren't conducting an in-house investigation, Phil."

"Yes, we are."

"You didn't even want to hear my side of the story this morning. You told me it didn't matter."

"That's not true," Blackburn said. "You misunderstood me entirely. Of course it matters. And I assure you, we will hear your story in detail as part of our investigation."

"I don't know, Phil," Sanders said. "I don't see how the company can be neutral on this issue. It seems everything is stacked against me. Everybody believes Meredith and not me."

"I assure you that is not the case."

"It certainly seems like it. You told me this morning how well connected she is. How many allies she has. You mentioned that several times."

"Our investigation will be scrupulous and impartial. But in any case it seems reasonable to ask you to wait for the outcome before filing with a state agency."

"How long do you want me to wait?"

"Thirty days."

Sanders laughed.

"But that's the standard time for a harassment investigation."

"You could do it in a day, if you wanted to."

"But you must agree, Tom, that we're very busy right now, with all the merger meetings."

"That's your problem, Phil. I have a different problem. I've been unjustly treated by my superior, and I feel I have a right, as a longstanding senior employee, to see my complaint resolved promptly."

Blackburn sighed. "All right. Let me get back to you," he said. He hurried out of the room.

Sanders slumped in his chair and stared into space.

It had begun.

Fifteen minutes later, Blackburn met with Garvin in the fifth-floor executive conference room. Also present at the meeting were Stephanie Kaplan and Bill Everts, the head of Human Resources at DigiCom.

Blackburn began the meeting by saying, "Tom Sanders has retained outside counsel and is threatening litigation over Meredith Johnson."

"Oh, Christ," Garvin said.

"He's claiming sexual harassment."

Garvin kicked the leg of the table. "That son of a bitch."

Kaplan said, "What does he say happened?"

"I don't have all the details yet," Blackburn said. "But in essence he claims that Meredith made sexual overtures to him in her office last night, that he turned her down, and that now she is being vindictive."

Garvin gave a long sigh. "Shit," he said. "This is just what I didn't want to happen. This could be a disaster."

"I know, Bob."

Stephanie Kaplan said, "Did she do it?"

"Christ," Garvin said. "Who knows in these situations. That's always the question." He turned to Everts. "Has Sanders come to you about this?"

"Not yet, no. I imagine he will."

"We have to keep it in-house," Garvin said. "That's essential."

"Essential," Kaplan said, nodding. "Phil has to make sure it stays in-house."

"I'm trying," Blackburn said. "But Sanders is talking about filing tomorrow with the HRC."

"That's a public filing?"

"Yes."

"How soon is it made public?"

"Probably within forty-eight hours. Depending on how fast HRC does the paperwork."

"Christ," Garvin said. "Forty-eight hours? What's the matter with him? Doesn't he realize what he's doing?"

Blackburn said, "I think he does. I think he knows exactly."

"Blackmail?"

"Well. Pressure."

Garvin said, "Have you talked to Meredith?"

"Not since this morning."

"Somebody's got to talk to her. I'll talk to her. But how are we going to stop Sanders?"

Blackburn said, "I asked him to hold off the HRC filing, pending our investigation, for thirty days. He said no. He said we should be able to conduct our investigation in one day."

"Well, he got that right," Garvin said. "For all kinds of reasons, we damn well better conduct the investigation in one day."

"Bob, I don't know if that's possible," Blackburn said. "We have significant exposure here. The corporation is required by law to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation. We can't appear to be rushed or-"

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Garvin said. "I don't want to hear this legal pissing and moaning. What are we talking about? Two people, right? And no witnesses, right? So there's just two people. How long does it take to interview two people?"

"Well, it may not be that simple," Blackburn said, with a significant look.

"I'll tell you what's simple," Garvin said. "This is what's simple. Conley-White is a company obsessed with its public image. They sell textbooks to school boards that believe in Noah's ark. They sell magazines for kids. They have a vitamin company. They have a health-food company that markets baby foods. Rainbow Mush or something. Now Conley-White's buying our company, and in the middle of the acquisition a high-profile female executive, the woman in line to become CEO within two years, is accused of seeking sexual favors from a married man. You know what they're going to do if that gets out? They're going to bail. You know that Nichols is looking for any excuse to weasel out of this thing. This is perfect for him. Christ."

"But Sanders has already questioned our impartiality," Blackburn said. "And I'm not sure how many people know about the, ah, prior questions that we-"

"Quite a few," Kaplan said. "And didn't it come up at an officers' meeting last year?"

"Check the minutes," Garvin said. "We have no legal problem with current corporate officers, is that right?"

"That's right," Blackburn said. "Current corporate officers cannot be questioned or deposed on these matters."

"And we haven't lost any corporate officers in the last year? Nobody retired or moved?"

“No.”

"Okay. So fuck him." Garvin turned to Everts. "Bill, I want you to go back through the HR records, and look carefully at Sanders. See if he's dotted every i and crossed every t. If he hasn't, I want to know."

"Right," Everts said. "But my guess is he's clean."

"All right," Garvin said, "let's assume that he is. What's it going to take to make Sanders go away? What does he want?"

Blackburn said, "I think he wants his job, Bob."

"He can't have his job."

"Well, that's the problem," Blackburn said.

Garvin snorted. "What's our liability, assuming he ever got to trial?" "I don't think he has a case, based on what happened in that office. Our biggest liability would come from any perceived failure to respect due process and conduct a thorough investigation. Sanders could win on that alone, if we're not careful. That's my point."