Michael Crichton - Disclosure

"Good morning," she said. "I'm Barbara Murphy. Please refer to me as judge Murphy, or Ms. Murphy." She moved around the room, shaking hands with everyone, then took a seat at the head of the table. She opened her briefcase and took out her notes.

"Let me tell you the ground rules for our sessions here," Judge Murphy said. "This is not a court of law, and our proceedings won't be recorded. I encourage everyone to maintain a civil and courteous tone. We're not here to make wild accusations or to fix blame. Our goal is to define the nature of the dispute between the parties, and to determine how best to resolve that dispute.

"I want to remind everyone that the allegations made on both sides are extremely serious and may have legal consequences for all parties. I urge you to treat these sessions confidentially. I particularly caution you against discussing what is said here with any outside person or with the press. l have taken the liberty of speaking privately to Mr. Donadio, the editor of the Post-Intelligencer, about the article that appeared today by Ms. Walsh. I reminded Mr. Donadio that all parties in `Company X' are private individuals and that Ms. Walsh is a paid employee of the paper. The risk of a defamation suit against the P-I is very real. Mr. Donadio seemed to take my point."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Now then. The parties have agreed that Mr. Sanders will speak first, and he will then be questioned by Mr. Heller. Ms. Johnson will speak next, and will be questioned by Ms. Fernandez. In the interest of time, I alone will have the right to ask questions during the testimony of the principals, and I will set limits on the questions of opposing attorneys. I'm open to some discussion, but I ask your cooperation in letting me exercise judgment and keep things moving. Before we begin, does anybody have any questions?"

Nobody did.

"All right. Then let's get started. Mr. Sanders, why don't you tell us what happened, from your point of view."

Sanders talked quietly for the next half hour. He began with his meeting with Blackburn, where he learned that Meredith was going to be the new vice president. He reported the conversation with Meredith after her speech, in which she suggested a meeting about the Twinkle drive. He told what happened in the six o'clock meeting in detail.

As he spoke, he realized why Fernandez had insisted he tell this story over and over, the day before. The flow of events came easily to him now; he found that he could talk about penises and vaginas without hesitation. Even so, it was an ordeal. He felt exhausted by the time he described leaving the room and seeing the cleaning woman outside.

He then told about the phone call to his wife, and the early meeting the next morning, his subsequent conversation with Blackburn, and his decision to press charges.

"'That's about it," he finished.

Judge Murphy said, "I have some questions before we go on. Mr. Sanders, you mentioned that wine was drunk during the meeting."

"Yes."

"How much wine would you say you had?"

"Less than a glass."

"And Ms. Johnson? How much would you say?"

"At least three glasses."

"All right." She made a note. "Mr. Sanders, do you have an employment contract with the company?"

"Yes."

"What is your understanding of what the contract says about transferring you or firing you?"

"They can't fire me without cause," Sanders said. "I don't know what it says about transfers. But my point is that by transferring me, they might as well be firing me-"

"I understand your point," Murphy said, interrupting him. "I'm asking about your contract. Mr. Blackburn?"

Blackburn said, "The relevant clause refers to `equivalent transfer.' "

"I see. So it is arguable. Fine. Let's go on. Mr. Heller? Your questions for Mr. Sanders, please."

Ben Heller shuffled his papers and cleared his throat. "Mr. Sanders, would you like a break?"

"No, I'm fine."

"All right. Now, Mr. Sanders. You mentioned that when Mr. Blackburn told you on Monday morning that Ms. Johnson was going to be the new head of the division, you were surprised."

"Yes."

"Who did you think the new head would be?"

"I didn't know. Actually, I thought I might be in line for it."

"Why did you think that?"

"I just assumed it."

"Did anybody in the company, Mr. Blackburn or anybody else, lead you to think you were going to get the job?" No.

"Was there anything in writing to suggest you would get the job?"

“No.”

"So when you say you assumed it, you were drawing a conclusion based on the general situation at the company, as you saw it."

"Yes."

"But not based on any real evidence?"

“No.”

"All right. Now, you've said that when Mr. Blackburn told you that Ms. Johnson was going to get the job, he also told you that she could choose new division heads if she wanted, and you told him you interpreted that to mean Ms. Johnson had the power to fire you?"

"Yes, that's what he said."

"Did he characterize it in any way? For example, did he say it was likely or unlikely?"

"He said it was unlikely."

"And did you believe him?"

"I wasn't sure what to believe, at that point."

"Is Mr. Blackburn's judgment on company matters reliable?"

"Ordinarily, yes."

"But in any case, Mr. Blackburn did say that Ms. Johnson had the right to fire you."

"Yes."

"Did Ms. Johnson ever say anything like that to you?"

“No.”

"She never made any statement that could be interpreted as an offer contingent upon your performance, including sexual performance?"

“No.”

"So when you say that during your meeting with her you felt that your job was at risk, that was not because of anything Ms. Johnson actually said or did?"

"No," Sanders said. "But it was in the situation."

"You perceivedit as being in the situation."

"Yes."

"As you had earlier perceived that you were in line for a promotion, when in fact you were not? The very promotion that Ms. Johnson ended up getting?"

"I don't follow you."

"I'm merely observing," Heller said, "that perceptions are subjective, and do not have the weight of fact."

"Objection," Fernandez said. "Employee perceptions have been held valid in contexts where the reasonable expectation-"

"Ms. Fernandez," Murphy said, "Mr. Heller hasn't challenged the validity of your client's perceptions. He has questioned their accuracy."

"But surely they are accurate. Because Ms. Johnson was his superior, and she could fire him if she wanted to."

"That's not in dispute. But Mr. Heller is asking whether Mr. Sanders has a tendency to build up unjustified expectations. And that seems to me entirely relevant."

"But with all due respect, Your Honor-"

"Ms. Fernandez," Murphy said, "we're here to clarify this dispute. I'm going to let Mr. Heller continue. Mr. Heller?"

"Thank you, Your Honor. So to summarize, Mr. Sanders: Although you felt your job was on the line, you never got that sense from Ms. Johnson?"

"No, I didn't."

"Or from Mr. Blackburn?"

"No."

"Or, in fact, from anyone else?"

“No.”

"All right. Let's turn to something else. How did it happen that there was wine at the six o'clock meeting?"

"Ms. Johnson said that she would get a bottle of wine."

"You didn't ask her to do that?"

"No. She volunteered to do it."

"And what was your reaction?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Nothing in particular."

"Were you pleased?"

"I didn't think about it one way or the other."

"Let me put it a different way, Mr. Sanders. When you heard that an attractive woman like Ms. Johnson was planning to have a drink with you after work, what went through your head?"

"I thought I better do it. She's my boss."