11
Dixon
My head is spinning leaving Chloe's office. I have to make this right for Clara. Wasting no time, I gather up all the evidence I have about the former CEO's misdeeds and take it to the legal department before I leave for the weekend. If I wait until Monday, it's possible that it gets leaked into the media before they have resolved the matter.
The team of lawyers gather round a large conference table, all eyes on me. “I have made copies of everything I have and they are in front of you. My father stole her designs and has been passing them off as ours. I do not know if there are more out there that were used illegally, but we need to get in front of this. Clara has agreed to talk to you to remedy the situation.”
The lawyers start asking me questions, not giving me a break in between, but I answer each one with the knowledge I had. They all seem surprised to hear that my father would do something like this, and it seems I'm not the only one he has been fooling.
“How did he get access to the designs?” one lawyer asks.
“Clara came to interview here and as you know many when they come bring their designs to show the department what theycan do. Apparently, my father took it upon himself to take that as permission to use them without her permission.”
The lawyers are appalled and agree that this is a very serious matter. “He will most likely face legal action. However, we will do our best to keep the matter out of the public eye, depending on what is agreed upon with the designer.”
The lawyers discuss the different legal options that are available for Clara. She can either sue the former CEO for damages, or she can try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with him. These included compensatory damages, which cover her lost wages and any financial losses she suffered due to his actions.
No matter what, Clara deserves compensation for the loss of being able to use her designs. My father used her property without her permission.
“She can also ask for punitive damages... basically punishing him and deter him from doing it again in the future, but with him not being with the company anymore - I think she will find that isn't necessary.”
It's out of my hands and everything depends on Clara now.
“Clara is expecting your call, and she seems to just want compensation. You might be able to get her to settle. Please keep me in the loop. The marketing team is going to have to keep a close eye on social media.”
As I leave the room, a sense of relief washes over me. It is no longer in my hands. Those guys have been to school for this sort of thing and they should be able to handle it with ease.
As I drive home that evening, the implications of my father's wrongdoings weigh heavily on my mind. Until this moment, I haven't fully realized the impact of. his decisions might have on me. Not only will it hurt the company, but it diminishes me as a whole. All the companies I worked with prior to coming on asCEO might not want to work with me again, and if this does go south and I can't keep Legacy afloat, what am I going to do?
Instead of focusing on that, I need to focus on how to make sure nothing like this happens again. Without designers, our industry can not survive. Clara has my utmost respect. Stealing designs doesn't just hurt the victim—it hurts our entire industry. It makes it hard for people to trust each other and it discourages innovation and creativity.
After arriving home, I send a quick text to Chloe to let her know the legal team has all the information. Chloe has been by my side every step of the way since Clara reached out to her, and I'm thankful. Without her to talk to, or vent, this situation would have been much worse.
Chloe: Good. I'll tell my team to watch our socials just in case over the weekend. We will need to meet first thing Monday morning to talk logistics. We need to stay ahead of this.
She has a good point. We do not know how Clara is going to react. Our lawyers might try to offer her some tiny settlement. Why didn't I think about this?
Me: Yes, first thing Monday. Have a good weekend.
Wait! My family. He will not come clean about this willingly, and they don’t deserve to be blindsided by the media. How are they going to react? This is going to cause a rift between the family, but I am not the one that did this. He needs to face the consequences. I can see the disappointment is my mother’s eyes already.
I step into my family's home with a heavy sense of dread. As I walk down the hall, the delicious scent of my mother's cookingcomes through the air, momentarily distracting me from the looming confrontation that I am about to face.
For a fraction of a second, I consider turning on my heel and fleeing back out the door, but eventually I force myself to keep going, my feet carrying me forward against my own will. I reach the dining room. My father is already seated at the head of the table, my mother next to him. Sisters and brothers scatter around the table, and they all look up as I enter the room. There is an awkward silence, and a knot tangles in my stomach. When I sit down, my father’s gaze does not meet mine. Matter of fact, he is looking everywhere but at me.
Did he want me to tell the family?Did he want me to burst at the seams? How long can I keep the truth about my father from the rest of my family?
Everyone fills their plates, then eat in silence, with the only sound being silverware clinking against plates. Am I sitting on a ticking time bomb? The truth is coming out, eventually. Keeping information like this to himself is detrimental to the entire family, and even though my father doesn’t think what he did is wrong, things will change once it’s public. The scrutiny that will be lashed out at him, will have him changing his mind quickly.
Why should I be the only one dealing with this?
“I’ve got something I need to tell you all.”
My father’s eyes lock on mine and he shakes his head. If he thinks he is going to intimidate me, especially now, he is mistaken.
“Dad was caught stealing designs and passing them off as Legacy's. The designer might even being suing for damages.”
The room erupts into chaos after the words leave my lips; with everyone talking at once trying to figure out how something like this can occur and questioning if the information is accurate or not.
