“Understood, okay. Let me see what else this thing says.” Mary returned her attention to the complaint, turned the page, and read ahead to the factual allegations to support the claim of trade libel, which she also read aloud, so he could respond:
In a conversation on April 19, Defendant Simon Pensiera stated to Raymond Matewicz and Ernie Greeley that he had told one of his accounts that, “The quality control had fallen off the table in OpenSpace’s top-of-the-line cubicles and that OpenSpace was ripping off its best customers,” and defendant also told the two men that the account, which he declined to specify by name or location, had therefore failed to order more cubicles.
Simon moaned. “I never said that either. I never said anything like that. Sometimes I worry about quality control and I wrote an email to HR or Ray about that, but I’ve never said it to a client and I never would. We have so much competition and I’d never run down our product outside. I’m in sales, for God’s sake.”
“Okay, I get it.” Mary was sensing a pattern. “It sounds like these false allegations contain a grain of truth, and that lends them some credibility.”
“They’re still lies.”
“I know, I hear you.” Mary read the rest of the complaint but there was nothing else of substance except for the damages amount at the end, which really did read $2 million, which meant that Dumbarton, Nate, OpenSpace, or whoever was behind this lawsuit had just upped the ante even more, for major stakes in federal court.
“So what does all this mean, the defamation and all? Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Of course.” Mary folded the complaint and sat down beside him. “Defamation means that you made a false statement that disparaged someone or lowered their reputation in the community. If you had made these statements, they would constitute defamation, in that they would tend to damage Todd’s reputation. You follow?”
“Yes, but I didn’t make them.”
“I know you didn’t, but this is going to be a credibility contest, and the concerning thing to me about this—not that we can’t deal with it because we can—is that this complaint suggests that both Raymond Matewicz and Ernie Greeley are going to lie for the company. My guess is there’s no proof, no contemporaneous notes like you took, and there’s probably no recording.” Mary thought a minute. “Do you have security cameras on the loading dock or anywhere else?”
“I assume so.”
Mary made a mental note. “Me too. So let’s assume that they even have a video that will show you on these three dates, talking with Ray on these two dates and with the two of them on the final date.”
“But that doesn’t prove what I said, and I didn’t say what they’re saying.”
“I know, and that’s the most they can come up with, and that’s not very persuasive. It’s something but it’s not a home run.”
“Is it as good as my contemporaneous notes?”
“No,” Mary answered firmly. “Now let me explain about the trade libel, which means that you said words that tended to disparage OpenSpace’s business, which resulted in them losing money, and the statement that they allege, if true, would constitute trade libel.”
“If I said it.”
“Exactly, if you said it, but you didn’t.” Mary thought about how she had to phrase her next thought, because she didn’t want to upset him. “I’m more concerned about the trade-libel allegation, because Ernie and Raymond will be able to corroborate each other. In other words, they are the proof that you said it.”
“But they’re lying!” Simon’s eyes flew open, and up close, Mary could see how bloodshot they were and wondered if he had gotten any sleep last night.
“I understand that. But let me talk about the underlying facts. Do you have any concerns with the quality in OpenSpace’s top-of-the-line cubicles?”
“Sure, and I write about them internally, but I never expressed that to any account and I never would. I try to listen to what the account needs and meet their needs with whatever line we can sell them. I don’t ever run down our own products to accounts.”
“Okay.” Mary processed the information. “Let’s talk about Ray Matewicz and Ernie Greeley. Are they friends? Why would they back each other up? And if they are, are they friends with Todd Eddington?”
“Yes, and I do see them together. They’re all department heads and they’ve been with the company from the beginning, longer than I have. They have management meetings with Bashir, so they must talk there.”
“Do they socialize out of work?”
“I don’t know, like I say, I’m calling on accounts, I’m on the road, or I’m at the hospital.”
“Why would they lie for the company? Who would ask them to? Todd? The president, Bashir?”
“God knows.” Simon raked his hands through his hair again. “I really thought Todd was my friend. I can’t believe he fired me and I can’t believe they’re doing this now. I never say bad things about him, I have no time to gossip.”
Mary touched his shoulder. “I understand, and please try to put this out of your mind, as hard as that may be. I will stay the course in the meantime. I’m going to send a complaint letter to the EEOC to start the ball rolling on our ADA case, and I’m going to draft an answer to this complaint.” Mary thought a minute about legal strategy. “I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to try to remove this case to federal court and combine it in the same action, so let me give that some thought. That would be hardball, which is the only thing these guys know.”
“Thank you, really, I appreciate it.” Simon straightened up, rallying with a shaky smile. “I never really thought of you as a hardball type before.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Mary said, but truth to tell, she didn’t either. She’d handled tough cases before, but never one like this, with Simon’s future, her career, and Rachel’s very life on the line.
She had to get busy.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bennie woke up drowsily, with Declan’s arms around her, his naked body curved to fit hers under the sheet. The late-day sun shone through the window, flooding the bedroom with dark gold light, burnished to bronze. A portable fan whirred on a nearby table and made a pleasant, if artificial, breeze across her skin. They had made love and fallen asleep, happy and satisfied, but as soon as her eyes came fully open and her consciousness caught up with her, her mood spiraled down. It had been fun to stave off reality in his arms, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was losing Mary and her firm was coming apart.