As soon as the line connects, I inquire about the details of the situation. I want to know how George had access to the designs in the first place.
“I initially interviewed for a position at the company years ago and brought in some designs to present. A couple of months later, my designs were on your products, but not accredited to me.”
Clara is understandably outraged by this, and I don’t blame her. George should have never done anything like this.
“Well, I would like to say that we had no idea. Why didn’t you go to the media or file a lawsuit?”
Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have said that exactly.
“I’ve been mulling over my options, but I don’t want to take down a company I believe in. It was only a matter of time before he retired. I have heard great things about his son. Hopefully he will do the right thing by his family legacy.”
She deserves compensation, and George needs to be held accountable for his actions. “I will get with our legal department who will reach out to you to get this resolved. I do appreciate you coming to me with this, instead of going to the media. Dixon and I will do the appropriate thing. Unlike his father.”
My phone drops to my desk, and I put my hands on the top of my head. This is bizarre. How many designs have been stolen this way? We are going to need to launch a full investigation now. There is no telling how many designers have been ripped off. How did no one catch this? Did my predecessor know?
I can’t imagine how Dixon is handling this. To think, he has been brought up to take over this company, and a couple days after, he finds out his father has been stealing designs. Heart-crushing. How is the public going to react to this? Will theyboycott the company? Cancel culture is growing in this new generation and if that happens, it’s likely Legacy Inc will not survive.
My office door swings open.
“I can’t even believe this!” Dixon closes the door behind him. “He doesn’t even seem sorry for what he did. Didn’t even try to deny it.”
I gesture for him to bring his voice down. “I know you are furious, but we need to keep this from getting out for now.”
“Sorry, I’m just in shock. The man that raised me would never do something like this. How am I supposed to carry on the family legacy when this is what is left to me? Utter disrespect for intellectual property. He should know better. No matter what pressure he was under.”
I get up from my chair and walk over to him. “Take a deep breath. No need to go ninety to nothing just yet. I spoke with Clara.”
“Why on earth would you do that?”
“To get more information. Do you want to know how your father got the designs in the first place?”
He nods and takes a seat. “Spill it. Please tell me it’s not that bad.”
“She interviewed to be a designer here. The designs were her pitch to get hired. So, he stole from designer instead of just hiring her. Why would he do that?”
“That’s a very good question, but now that opens a whole new issue. How many designers have interviewed here in the past decade? We could be using more than just her designs without their permission.”
I clap my hand down on his shoulder and he looks up at me. “I think it’s time to take what information we have to the legal department and have them sort it out from here. We can try to come up with a plan to try to keep the company afloat.”
He puts his head in his hands. “How do we do that? This information is going to ruin us. I’m usually one for optimism but this is a crap show.”
I smile. “Honestly, we have so many young adults on the marketing team that they may be able to help us. You haven’t done anything wrong. We can make sure everyone knows that you don’t tolerate this.”
Dixon is going to have a rough time over the next week as we determine the best course of action, but he is going to have to be strong. His father is going to be knocked down, dragged through the mud, and he might even face legal action.
“I need this company to survive, Chloe. He can’t hand the company over to me and it go under. I’ll be the laughingstock of my family.”
He is in such a hard position. Dixon seems to be a very strong-willed man, and nothing like that of his father. It speaks volumes that he is so upset about the situation and still willing to take the allegations to the legal department. It would have been easy for him to sweep it under the rug, but he is an ethical man.
“Don’t beat yourself up over this. You couldn’t have known. You are a wonderful man, and we as a company are very lucky to have you as a boss.”
Dixon looks up at me, a half-attempted smile. “That’s very kind of you to say, but it doesn’t change the situation. My father may very well never speak to me again after this. It makes it all the more difficult.”
The fact he will go against his father speaks volumes to his character. If under different circumstances, he is exactly the type of man I would want in my life. Yet, he is my boss, and things need to stay professional.
“You are doing the right thing. The rest of your family will surely see that. If they want this company to survive, it must come to light and then we work on getting over the hurdle. Youaren’t alone in this. My department will do whatever it takes… I promise you that.”
I rarely say those words, but, I have every intention on keeping it.
