Chapter 9: A Day In Court

Monday we relaxed and in the late afternoon drove within 2 hours of Denver. We talked about our friends and wondered how they were doing. We talked to Pop who had returned to his house. Pop said the State Troopers were miffed about our leaving but he gave them Mr. Simon's phone number. Of course the next call was to Mr. Simon who said that the Colorado State Patrol had talked to him and he had filled them in with all he knew then explained why we left and that we would return as soon as we finished with the courts in Denver.

Mr. Simon also reported that the man caught in the fire had been identified and was known to have mob connections, but only as a minor player. The State Patrol thought that he had been moonlighting. I asked why they assumed this and they said he was from our town and was basically a gopher who would not be trusted with a hit. We discussed this and suggested that we time our arrival to be about 15 minutes late and he would call us just as court was about to start.

We left about 8:22 AM and drove to the park, which was about four blocks from the Courthouse and parked. We ate our donuts and drank coffee while we waited. It was 10:10 AM when we received the phone call. Virginia and I had discussed how to arrive and we decided a cab right to the front door would be the best. We had discussed walking from the park but that left us four blocks that we could be intercepted in. The same for using the parking garage except that I figured it would easier to take us there than on the street.

When we entered the Courtroom at 10:23 Mr. Simon was asking the judge for a delay of five more minutes. As we entered he caught sight of us and said that he was withdrawing his request. The judge had us identify ourselves then asked me why I was late. "Your Honor in the past few weeks Virginia's roommate has been threatened, my house was broken into and vandalized, and Sunday my Pop was held at gun point as part of a trap to either kidnap or kill us. We were trying to arrive here exactly on time but due to traffic we were delayed a bit."

The lawyers for the Lab objected to my statement saying it would influence the outcome of the hearing. The Judge said he would not be swayed by my statement, but since it did show I had not missed the start of court on purpose we would continue. Next the Judge asked Mr. Simon for his opening statement.

Mr. Simon summed up what had taken place at the Lab and the fact I had been working on a project and had made a major contribution. The Lawyers for the Lab objected to the last part and said there was no proof that my contributions had been major and that was one reason why the Lab had taken the described action.

Then the Lab lawyers presented their opening statement and their case with statements of the head of Personnel and Research that painted an entirely different picture of me as a worker and individual.

When it came time for Mr. Simon to cross examine the head of Research things started going downhill in a hurry. First he asked if the Lab had filed any major patents since the accident and the answer was no. Then Mr. Simon presented to the court a copy of their Application for Patent and asked the question if this was his signature and if that part of the application highlighted was the formula I had developed. The Lab lawyers objected saying this had nothing to do with my being terminated because of the accident in the lab. Mr. Simon's said good because I already held the patent on the formula.

The Judge then told the Lab lawyers to provide any documentation or witnesses that would prove that I had caused the accident. They said they were not ready for that at this time and the Judge was anything but pleased with their answer. Mr. Simon spoke up and said that he could prove that I was not involved but an innocent victim of timing. He then provided copies of the sign in sheet and other documentation that showed that there had been just enough time for me to reach the Laboratory before the explosion.

The judge was handed this documentation then asked the Lab if they had something else to add but they asked for a continuance. Mr. Simon objected with the fact they had withdrawn their last request for continuance and had stated to the court that they were ready to proceed. The judge said under the circumstances that he would not allow a continuance and was ruling that I had been terminated illegally and without cause. That the Lab had treated Virginia unfairly, when she had acted in good faith and tried to prevent a breach of business ethics. He said we would return after a lunch break to hear closing arguments about punitive damages.

We ate in the courthouse. Mr. Simon made four phone calls with the last one to his office which took the longest. Afterwards he told us we would have two men joining us for dessert. The two men turned out to be the CEO Marty Mariston and the President Richie Thurston of the company that owned the Lab. Dessert was then very interesting as Mr. Simon explained all the facts he had learned about the Lab and its management. Apparently the management was trying to keep the discovery secret and put it their name so they would reap most of the financial reward.

Richie Thurston then explained that more than 60% of the Lab was owned by his company. The research employees worked for slightly less than normal wages but received the rights to share in any discoveries they made including a percentage of the net profits in the form of a bonus each quarter based on their previous contributions.

I told him that was one of the reasons I had chosen to work there. I added there seemed to have been a much more relaxed atmosphere there until recently when the new head of Research and Personnel took over. Both men agreed this seemed to be the case and that some other irregularities had come to light also.

We were then informed that my new formula was the major component used to develop the cure for Slzheimer's by the Lab, which in the last few weeks had worked wonders in animal test at another Testing Facility.