“Thank you,” Mary said, happily surprised. “She’s quiet this morning. Or he is.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” Vanessa shot back, and they all laughed. “Okay, let’s get to brass tacks. As you know, the Complaint filed by Messrs. Battle, McManus, and Madden alleges that your law firm failed to hire them because of their gender. What I’d like to do is explore with you the decisions not to hire those plaintiffs. I’ll ask you informally, and you can answer equally informally. These proceedings are not under oath, but of course, we expect you to tell the truth. Is there anything you want to say before you begin?”
“Yes,” Mary answered. They had a plan to put into effect, and it started now. “I’m happy to be here today and answer any questions you have. However, I want to state first, so you hear it from me, that we did not discriminate against these plaintiffs on the basis of their gender. We would never do such a thing and we have always stood at the forefront of equality at our firm. And as a factual matter, I didn’t make the decision to hire or not to hire these plaintiffs.”
“So you’re not the decision-maker?” Vanessa started typing away.
“No, I’m one of the partners and I was the first one available for an interview, so here we are. But I didn’t interview anyof the complainants. I didn’t even know one interviewed and I wasn’t aware of them at all, until the Complaint arrived at our offices the other day.”
“Okay, thank you very much.” Vanessa started typing away, but continued speaking. “Then we can explore hiring practices in general at your firm.”
“I’m happy to do that.”
Roger cleared his throat. “Vanessa, before we do, I’d like to discuss something with you, also informally. I know you have a mediation program here and settlement is favored by the Commission, where appropriate.”
“Yes, that’s quite right.” Vanessa stopped typing. “Is settlement something you want to explore, even before the interview?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. First, if I may, I’d like to clarify a few points.”
“Go ahead.” Vanessa leaned away from the laptop, linking her hands in front of her.
“I’ve reviewed the file, and correct me if I’m wrong, but Messrs. Battle, Madden, and McManus are currently employed. Is that correct?”
“Yes.” Vanessa nodded pleasantly.
“A typical defendant, in a matter like this, might look at a Complaint from plaintiffs in that posture as failing for lack of damages. By that I mean to say, even assuming that the Rosato & DiNunzio firm failed to hire them because of their gender, which we deny, they incurred no monetary damages as a result of that failure to hire.”
“That’s true.” Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “However, we at the Commission would generally not deny investigation of a Complaint because it may not have resulted in monetary damages.”
“Of course, nor would I expect you to, as a citizen.” Roger spread his hands, palms up, his tone reasonable and calm.
“So why do you bring up the damages question, if you don’tthink the Complaint should be denied because of its deficiency?”
“Because it makes this case unique.”
“That’s true too. The case is also unique for its allegations, since we don’t get many reverse-discrimination cases.”
“Quite right. I could find very few in my research.” Roger straightened in his chair. “But the damages question got us thinking about how we can settle this case. Settlement is typically a monetary amount, a compromise determined by what the plaintiff lost as a result of the unlawful act.”
“So what are you prepared to offer?” Vanessa turned to Mary. “Or what areyouprepared to offer, as a principal of the firm? If you don’t mind answering directly.”
“In our view, since the plaintiffs haven’t incurred any financial damages, they don’t need to be made whole financially. We decided to make a wonderful settlement offer to these plaintiffs.”
“Which is?” Vanessa asked, impatient.
“We’d like to offer all three of them jobs at Rosato and DiNunzio.”
“What?” Vanessa’s eyes flared in surprise.
“We’d like to hire them, as associates. Their records are excellent, and we need to hire qualified associates. We don’t discriminate against men and we would like the opportunity to prove as much.”
“Really?” Vanessa shifted forward, cocking her head with interest.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Mary said, with conviction, since it had been her idea. She hadn’t turned Zen, but she had taken a page from the real Niccolò Machiavelli’s book. His most famous saying was,Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
“So you would offer them a job, full-time?”
“Yes, absolutely. In addition, if they felt some minor sum was justified for legal fees they have paid, we would reimburse them,as a sweetener.” Mary masked her annoyance at having to pay Machiavelli’s legal fees, but if it did him in, it would be her pleasure. “Bottom line, we would love to have them work for us and we hope that will settle this case.”
