Chapter 5: A Toxic Situation

July 14, 1987, Chicago, Illinois

"You're really going to put that bullshit language into the employee handbook because some stupid little girl wants to fuck you?" Elyse asked as we were taking a walk with Matthew after karate class.

"Jamie is worried about a sexual harassment suit, or wrongful termination suit."

"This is an 'at will' state. You could fire her tomorrow for no reason other than it's Wednesday. And you don't even have to tell her why."

"No, but she could claim that I was pressuring her to sleep with me."

"That's total bullshit, and everyone knows it! You could have pretty much any girl you wanted! It's always been like that."

"And according to Jamie, in court, or worse, in front of an EEOC administrative law judge, that would bolster her case. Obviously, I force it on women because no woman would accept the situation willingly."

"What the fuck is going on in the world?" she said, exasperated. "Some stupid little bitch wants to bang her boss for whatever reason, and because of that, we have to jump through all these stupid hoops?"

"I know. I agree with you. But I'm not sure there's much we can do about it. Well, except do what Jamie says."

"You have a bigger problem."

"What's that?"

"Tasha. If that policy goes into effect, you two can't get together."

I sighed, "We can't get together even without the policy. I have my rule."

"And Jennifer told you that every rule has an exception. You've made exceptions before."

"Let's say that I did, and if Kaitlin found out. There would be hell to pay! She'd make no end of trouble for us."

"You can't let that little bitch hold you hostage forever! I don't think we have any choice except to fire her."

"So she can turn around and sue us?" I asked.

"Steve, think about it. You can't let her hold the entire company hostage! Fire her. Let her sue. I don't think she can win. But you know what? She won't sue. She'll run to her uncle and try to make trouble. You go to him first. With me along. Tell him what she's doing, tell him why you have to fire her, and see what he says. That can't be any worse than her running to him."

"Let me talk to Jamie and Julia about it," I said.

"With me. You'll let them push you around because you trust them. I won't let them. I am not going to let Kaitlin wreck NIKA! And neither are you!"

"It is potentially that bad, isn't it?"

"Yes. Let me call Julia and Jamie at home and arrange for lunch tomorrow in the Loop. When we get back, talk to Jessica and Kara and let them know."

"What about the work she's doing? She's made some sales, and we can't really afford to hire a replacement."

"Go back to how it was, but with Kimmy making the initial calls. Mario and Cindi will just have to do the follow-up for now. We can always hire somebody part time to do what Kaitlin was doing. She was only working half-days. Maybe a marketing student who wants a part-time job while working on their Master's degree. That won't cost us any more than what we're paying now."

"It makes sense to me, but talk to Cindi," I said.

When we got back to the house, I went to find Jessica and Kara and explained what was going on. They both agreed with Elyse that we couldn't allow Kaitlin to hold us hostage, and it was better to just bring things to a head now than let things linger.

"I've run into three girls like this," I said. "Michelle Bateman in High School, Effy, and Kaitlin. What is with them?"

"Wasn't Jackie after you kind of like that?" Kara asked.

"To a point," I said. "But she worked hard to be my friend. The sex came after that. The three I mentioned just put on the full-court press. And honestly, I don't like that."

"Becky did that, too," Kara said. "And you've become friends with her."

"That was different," I said. "I was in love with Becky before any of that started, and she was in love with me. There were also quite a few extenuating circumstances. Most of all, the first time we were together wasn't just a fuck for her, and was never going to be just a fuck; unlike someone sitting here."

"True," Kara said, "but I never pressured you like any of those girls did."

"I really find it hard to believe that a goody two-shoes, evangelical Christian wanted to have wild sex with the school stud," Jessica said.

"It does make sense, Jess," I said. "That was one thing that she could control, that her pastor and her dad couldn't. It broke the spell, so to speak. She just didn't count on me falling in love with her."

"That's true, Jessica, as I told you," Kara said. "You know, Snuggle Bear, another reason to get Kaitlin out of the picture is your relationships with Tasha, Charlie, and Penny. Charlie is in the sauna with us quite a bit, and Penny occasionally. Eventually, Tasha will be comfortable doing that, too. That's another thing that Kaitlin could use to cause trouble."

"The problem is," Jessica said, "that any woman that Steve hires could cause trouble like this. The ones that knew him before he started the company are fine, of course. The ones he hired after are all potentially a problem."

"I've seen nothing from any of them — Kimmy, Heather, Barbara, or Debbie — that would cause me any concern."

"What about the one you fired?" Kara asked.

"Dany? She flirted a bit, but that's all. Elyse talked to her. It really wasn't an issue, and she never pushed hard. And Dave decided to fire her when I was out of the country, if you recall."

"True! You were occupied with some very important business! Trying to please two wives!"

"Trying?" I said, doing my best to sound offended.

"Succeeding!" Kara giggled. "Perhaps you could demonstrate? What do you think, Jess?"

"Oh yes!" she grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my chair.

"I think I can call Jamie and Julia later," I said, resigned to my fate.

"That sounds like a wise decision!" Kara said primly, before she smiled hungrily at me.

July 15, 1987, Chicago, Illinois

"That's dangerous," Jamie said. "I don't recommend it."

"What's the alternative?" Elyse asked fiercely. "Let her control everything that goes on here? I say we fire her as soon as Steve and I talk to Alderman Bloom."

"That creates its own problem, Elyse. What if HE decides to do something about his niece being sexually harassed?"

"That's my point, Jamie! Every damned decision around here is going to depend on how Kaitlin might react. I stopped coming into the office early so I wasn't alone with her! That is no way to run a business."

"You have my advice," he said. "I can't make you follow it."

"Jamie," I said, "drop the 'Legal Beagle' stuff for a moment and tell me your personal opinion. Off the record. As my friend."

"Off the record? She's toxic. You need to be rid of her. But I can't think of any way to terminate her that won't lead to potential legal problems."

"So your professional legal advice is to keep a toxic employee on staff?"

"That's the environment in which we find ourselves. And it's only going to get worse. Mostly because sexual harassment is a real thing, but partly because people are discovering that even the hint of a lawsuit or EEOC claim gives them tremendous power."

"So, how do we prevent it?" I asked.

"Prevent it? You can't. All you can do is try to screen your applicants for a proper attitude. But you have to be careful not to ask any questions that could seem discriminatory, because THAT could lead to an employment claim as well, whether it's race, sex, religion, or whatever."

"Jesus, Jamie!" I said, exasperated. "It's my company. I should be able to hire or fire who I want to when I want to. People who work for me can quit at any point, and can freely decide not to take a job for any reason, including them not liking my race, religion, sex, politics, or whatever. It's bullshit."

"Look; you know that I agree with your libertarian brand of politics most of the time, and I agree with you here, as a private citizen. As your attorney, I'm telling you, the deck is stacked against you."

"It may be," I said. "But I have a solid track record of not discriminating against anyone, except perhaps stupid people, and there's no law against that; at least not yet, anyway. We've fired people for poor performance and for violating my privacy. We're going to fire Kaitlin. I've made that decision. Now, as my attorney and my friend, I need your advice on how to do it to minimize the risks."

Elyse smiled, nodded, and gave me a thumbs up. Julia looked pained. Their two reactions combined were pretty much how I felt. But the one thing I would not do is let some foolish twenty-year-old force me to run my company in a way that I didn't want to.

"First of all, have Julia and either Cindi or Elyse do it. You shouldn't be involved. Second, make sure that you document each interaction with her where she came on to you. Do you have records?"

"My personal journal," I said.

"Do NOT let on that such a thing exists. That could create all kinds of problems you don't even want to contemplate."

"It's password-protected and encrypted. If I understand correctly, the government can't make me tell them the password like they could make me give them a key to a safe deposit box."

"That appears to be true for now, yes. But you're better off keeping that information to yourselves. Just document it. Julia, when you terminate her, just say that NIKA decided to go a different direction. No matter what she says, do not give a reason. Illinois doesn't require it. The less you say, the better. If she does bring a claim, then we bring out the documentation and say that we didn't want to embarrass her, or her uncle, or make it hard for her to get a new job, etc. It probably won't matter, but it's what you should do because you're hell-bent on this course."

"Jamie, I know you're doing your job, but you also told me what you think personally. I got it. If it will make you feel better, send me a letter with your advice."

"That will make my boss feel better," he said. "You are the last person who I would expect to sue us, but it would protect the firm. Of course, that creates a bigger problem for you if this goes anywhere."

"I'm a big boy, Counselor. I can take it."

"OK. I'll send the letter by courier so that you have it today. Get everything in order and have Julia and whomever do it while you're at lunch with Alderman Bloom. Tell him at the end of lunch, but don't give any details. If he presses you, tell him that it's not something that you can discuss."

"Got it," I said. "And, thanks, Jamie. See you on Saturday night."

We hung up, and I let Julia know that I was going to walk home and prepare my notes. She said that she'd page Cindi and let her know what we'd decided. Elyse said that she'd walk home with me, because she needed to feed our son. We left the office, and I simply nodded to Kaitlin because she was on the phone.

"I'm glad to see you grow a backbone," Elyse said. "In the past, you would have let Jamie push you around and let Kaitlin dictate the terms of your relationship. Something changed recently."

Indeed it had, but there was no way I could tell Elyse about what had happened with Anthony and Connie.

"I'm just tired of the bullshit. And there is no way I'm going to let people push me around. It's one thing to be accommodating; it's a very different thing to be a doormat."

"Well, well! This is a pleasant surprise. Now, if you just add in a bit of your own happiness that isn't tied to someone else being happy, I think everything will work out just fine."

"You were worried?"

"A bit. More about your company than anything else. I know that the whole 'hard-nosed businessman' schtick isn't for you, but a bit of it is necessary to be successful. Just remember, Jamie's job is to advise you, not give you orders. Most of the time, his advice will be good, but remember, it's all designed to keep you out of legal trouble, at almost any cost. Sometimes, it's not worth the cost. Like with Kaitlin."

"Good advice, as always," I said.

"I have a postpartum checkup next week. After that, Sir, I'm going to need you to fuck me senseless. Are you willing?"

"Not a demand?" I chuckled.

"No, a request. No more demands. I have to follow my own guidance, don't you think?"

"I do indeed. And of course, I'm more than willing!"

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

When we arrived home, Kara was playing with Jesse while Matthew napped in his carrier.

"What are you doing home, Steve?" Kara asked.

"I need to get some information for Julia so we can fire Kaitlin. I have the dates in my journal. And Elyse came home to feed Matthew."

I went to my study and turned on my Mac. I selected the correct diskette and slipped it into the slot. I scrolled through the documents, making notes on a pad of paper. When I had the information I needed, I ejected the diskette and created a new document containing everything from my notes, as well as all the other details that I could remember. When I finished, I saved it on a fresh diskette, printed the document, then locked that diskette in the drawer with the others. I folded the paper, put it in an envelope, sealed it, and, after kissing Kara, Jesse, and Matthew, headed back to the office.

When I arrived, I said 'hello' to Kaitlin, then went to Julia's office, shut the door, and handed her the document that I'd created. She let me know that she'd talked to Cindi, and to her surprise, Cindi had agreed completely with me. There was only one problem.

"What are we going to do for a morning receptionist?" Julia asked.

"For now, Barbara will have to catch the phones, but offer the full-time receptionist job to Kimmy. She's doing fine in the afternoons. She said she'd take a full-time job."

"OK. And I'll put in a call to UofC, Northwestern, and UIC Circle, to see if we can find a marketing intern. Also, I heard back from all four programmer candidates that we liked and three of them are coming in on Friday. The fourth one found a new job already."

"OK. I have all day free. If possible, I'd like to make a decision on Friday and get an offer out so we have an acceptance before I leave for Russia."

"Agreed. What about the marketing person?"

"Do the interviews. If you find the person you want while I'm gone, they'll have to come back to see me. Sorry about that, but as I said, I want to at least talk to anyone who we're going to hire."

"Got it. Cindi will stay in the office on Friday morning after our meeting. She does that often enough that it's not going to raise any suspicion with Kaitlin."

"OK. Sounds like a plan," I said. "Let me get back to work. I'm going to ask Penny to come in early the next few days so that I'm not here alone when Kaitlin arrives."

"Good plan," Julia said.

I headed back to my office and shut the door.

"Penny, the next few days I need you to come in at 5:30am, please."

"Whoa! I don't even get up that early for school!"

"Yes, but I can't be here alone, and you're the logical person to be here with me."

"Kaitlin?" she asked.

"Exactly. But do not say anything, please."

"Never! I would never, ever do anything to hurt you or the company! Ever!"

"I know, Penny. I was just making sure that you knew to keep it to yourself."

"I will. I don't mind the extra pay, but that's really early!"

"I know," I said. "Now, let's get back to work!"

Just before lunch, Kaitlin knocked, and then opened the door.

Chapter 6 »