“I agree and I’m sorry, but we tried, and I will keep the pressure on toward getting a settlement down the line. A lot of people talk tough in the beginning, then they cave.” Mary didn’t update him on the fussing over the representation issue or the fact that she might leave the firm. Her personal problems were her own, and Simon had enough on his plate right now.
“Okay, listen, I really appreciate you trying and coming down here right now. I just don’t know what to do. This is incredible!”
“You know why they’re doing this, don’t you? They’re trying to intimidate us and back us down.” Mary had seen so much of this lately. More and more, corporations were using litigation as a tool to threaten, bully, and even bankrupt the little guy, like Simon. She wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Where the hell am I going to get two million dollars? We didn’t ask anywhere near that in our complaint, I never would have, and they’re a big company! I’m up to my ears in medical bills, with more on the way.” Simon flailed his hand in the direction of Rachel’s hospital room. “You should’ve heard what these doctors were telling me, the procedures she’s going to need. Her white cells are through the roof. That’s where my money should go, not to some ridiculous lawsuit! It’s her life that’s at stake!”
“Oh, Simon, I’m so sorry.” Mary’s heart went out to him, and she steadied him with her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, we’re going to deal with this. Getting a complaint can be frightening, and that’s what they’re trying to do. It’s like terrorism by litigation. But I’m glad you called me, and just know that I can handle it and we’re going to stay the course.”
“Okay, okay,” Simon said, his forehead wrinkling under the strain. “I used to think I was good in an emergency, but things are really piling up, this is too much. My mother used to say, everybody has a breaking point, and today, I worried I was reaching mine. I thought I was helping Rachel by filing the lawsuit against OpenSpace but now I’m worried that I made everything worse.”
“No, not at all.” Mary felt terrible for him. “You did the right thing, we did the right thing in filing suit against them, and that’s what lawyers are for, to handle the stress. In fact, they’re not supposed to serve you with papers when they know you’re represented by counsel. They’re supposed to serve them on me. So much for the ethics police.”
“I just feel so helpless. Like everywhere I turn, I can’t do anything. With Rachel, with this litigation. I know it’s a cliché, that you feel so helpless, but anybody who has a sick child, they know what it’s like. Your kid’s crying and there’s nothing you can do, when they beg and they plead and they ask you to stop sticking them with needles and they want to go home. They ask, over and over, Rachel does, she asks me, she asks my father, ‘Zayde, when can I go home?’” Simon’s voice broke, but he held it together. “And there’s nothing you can do.”
“Aw, Simon.” Mary hugged him again. “So why don’t you sit down while I read this? Just try to collect your thoughts, or do you want a water or anything? I’m sure I can get you one.”
“No thanks, I’m fine. I don’t know how much time we have to talk, I might have to go in with Rachel. My dad and everybody are in the cafeteria, and I don’t like to leave her alone.” Simon flopped into a bucket chair and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Ellen used to say, ‘do your Lamaze breathing.’”
“Good idea. You keep breathing and let me take a quick look at this.” Mary flipped through the complaint, which set forth two civil causes of action against Simon: first, that he was liable for slander because he had defamed Todd Eddington on two occasions, and secondly, that he had committed trade libel against OpenSpace. Coburn must be pulling out all the stops because trade libel was a relatively rare tort, similar to defamation of a company.
“Will you read that thing! It’s ridiculous! He’s claiming I said he didn’t care about Rachel, that he was heartless, which I never ever said, I swear to you.”
“I understand,” Mary said, modulating her tone to calm him down, even though she was furious inside. She couldn’t believe that OpenSpace was retaliating at Simon so viciously. It was an overreaction, and she suspected it had something to do with Nate’s anger at her taking the representation, or something personal between him and Bennie. Or both.
Mary read the first set of factual allegations aloud:
In a conversation on February 16, Defendant Simon Pensiera defamed Plaintiff Todd Eddington by stating to Raymond Matewicz, Operations Manager at OpenSpace, that: “Todd doesn’t care about Rachel at all,” “Todd has no heart and only cares about money,” and “Todd is jealous of my abilities and all of the attention I’m getting because of Rachel’s cancer.”
Mary looked down at Simon. “Who is this Ray Matewicz and what do you have to do with him?”
“I don’t have anything to do with him.” Simon looked up plaintively, his chin in his hands. “Ray runs the plant, and I talk to him from time to time but we don’t talk about Todd. I never said anything bad about Todd, not at all. Why would I badmouth my boss to a guy I hardly know? I’m not that stupid!” Simon raked a hand through his hair. “Besides I don’t think Todd is jealous of me. The only thing I think is that he fired me to save the company Rachel’s medical expenses, that’s it! Otherwise I don’t give him a second thought. I have enough to think about!”
“I believe you, I know.” Mary turned the page, and there was another set of factual allegations in support of the defamation claim, which she read aloud again:
In a conversation on March 22, Defendant Simon Pensiera defamed Plaintiff Todd Eddington by stating to Ernie Greeley, Director of Security at OpenSpace, that, “Todd doesn’t care if Rachel lives or dies. The only thing he cares about is the numbers.”
Mary looked at Simon. “Tell me about this Ernie Greeley.”
“Same deal,” Simon said defensively, throwing his hands up in the air. “Ernie does plant security. Makes sure we’re locked up at night. Makes sure there’s no fighting on the floor. Sends somebody home if they come in drunk. I have nothing to do with him, either.”
“Do you ever talk to him?”
“Rarely, the only time I ever talked to him was, like, one or two times when I smoked out back by the loading docks”—Simon looked up sheepishly—“I know, I know, I quit a long time ago for Ellen, but lately, there have been times when I really needed a cigarette.”
“It’s okay, Simon.” Mary didn’t smoke but she wasn’t about to judge him, considering what he was going through. Anyway, carbohydrates were her chosen addiction.
“So Ernie would be out back grabbing a smoke, and we would talk about sports or whatever. But I swear to you, I never said anything about Todd.”