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.She follows Deck into the courtroom.Underhall and Aldy refuse to look at her.The five stiffs from Trent & Brent watch every step.She cleans up nicely.Aloose-fitting blue dress hangs on her thin body and falls just above herknees.Her face looks much different from last night, much prettier.She takesher oath, sits in the witness chair, shoots one hateful look at the boys fromGreat Benefit and is ready to testify.I wonder if she's slept with Underhall or Aldy.Last night she mentioned LufMnand one other, but I know I didn't get a full history.We cover the basics quickly, then move in for the kill. How long did you work for Great Benefit? Six years. And when did your employment end? October 3. How did it end? I was fired. You didn't resign? No.I was fired. Who fired you? It was a conspiracy.Everett Lufian, Kermit Aldy, Jack Underhall and severalothers. She nods at the guilty parties, and all necks twist toward the boysfrom Great Benefit.I approach the witness and hand her a copy of her letter of resignation. Doyou recognize this, I ask. This is a letter I typed and signed, she says. The letter states that you're quitting for personal reasons. The letter is a lie.I was fired because of my involvement in the claim ofDonny Ray Black, and because I was scheduled to give a deposition on October5.I was fired so the company could claim I no longer worked there. Who made you write this letter?Page 233ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html The same ones.It was a conspiracy. Can you explain it to us?She looks at the jurors for the first time, and they are all looking at her.She swallows hard, and starts talking. On the Saturday before my depositionwas scheduled, I was asked to come181to the office.There I met with Jack Underhall, the man sitting over there inthe gray suit.He's one of the in-house lawyers.He told me I was leavingimmediately, and that I had two choices.I could call it a firing, and leave with nothing.Or, I could write thatletter, call it a resignation and the company would give me ten thousanddollars in cash to keep quiet.And I had to make the decision right there, inhis presence.She was able to talk about this last night without emotion, but things aredifferent in open court.She bites her lip, struggles for a minute, then isable to move on. I'm a single mother with two children, and there are lots ofbills.I had no choice.I was suddenly out of work.Iwrote the letter, took the cash and signed an agreement to never discuss anyof my claims files with anybody. Including the Black file? Specifically the Black file. Then if you took the money and signed the agreement, why are you here? After I got over the shock, I talked to a lawyer.A very good lawyer.Heassured me the agreement I signed was illegal. Do you have a copy of the agreement? No.Mr.Underhall wouldn't let me keep one.But you can ask him.I'm sure hehas the origi-nal. I slowly turn and stare at Jack Underhall, as does every other person inthe courtroom.His shoelaces have suddenly become the center of his life, andhe's fiddling with them, seemingly oblivious to her testimony, I look at LeoDrummond, and for the first time see the look of com-plete defeat.His client, of course, didn't tell him about the cash bribery orthe agreement signed under duress. Why did you see a lawyer? Because I needed advice.I was wrongfully terminated.But before that, I wasdiscriminated against because I was a woman, and I was sexually harassed byvarious executives at GreatBenefit. Anybody we know? Objection, Your Honor, Drummond says. This might be fun to talk about, butit's not rele-vant to the case. Let's see where it goes.I'll overrule for now.Please answer the question,Ms.Lemancyzk.She takes a deep breath, says,  I had sex with Everett Lufkin for three years.As long as Iwas willing to do whatever he wanted, my pay was increased and I was promoted.When I got tired of it and stopped, I was demoted from senior claims examinerto claims handler.My pay was cut by twenty percent.Then, Russell Krokit, whowas at that time the senior claims super-visor but was fired when I was, decided he'd like to have an affair.He forcedhimself on me, told me if I didn't play along then I'd be out of work.But ifI'd be his girl for a while, he'd make sureI got another promotion.It was either put out, or get out. Both of these men are married? Yes, with families.They were known to prey on the young girls in claims.Icould give you a lot of names.And these weren't the only two hotshots whotraded promotions for sex [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]