Because this is your first time, setting up a company, therefore, you were, inexperienced, in handling of this sorts of, matter, and you got sued, translated…
As Sheng-Nien was about to Get into Depth of What Happened with the Local Manager, to Get a Handle on Things, Fonzi used the claims that the office wouldn’t do anything, hired a lawyer, to file a complaint with the equal treatment committee of the offices on sexual harassment charges………
Out of Our Expectations, She’d Not Wanted Any Contact with Clark
As the Southeastern Branch Office of the company just started operating, we’d needed to have a manager of the offices, and the manager from a client company, Clark suggested Fonzi to us. Clark stressed how she has a degree in chemistry, and is very popular locally. After the interviews, we’d felt she was very active, intelligent, good-looking, with a nice tone of voice; although she has a background in chemical engineering, but she’d been working in the cases of developing markets, very fitting for sales. But, we’d needed a more experienced office manager, so I’d, not immediately, hired her.
Not long afterwards, this particular client hired us for a small-scale case, needed someone with Fonzi’s background to help conduct market research and predictions, and only requires her to work for about twenty-hours per week. This sort of a smaller scale case is fitted for Fonzi, and the rest of the time, she could, help develop the markets for our company.
I’d gone to visit this particular office every now and then, gathered with the manager, and the employees for the meals, but, Fonzi often, excused herself, reason being that she was already scheduled for a function with her client, Clark. Once when I visited, I caught them in watching a game together, I saw how Fonzi was getting along very well with the workers at Clark’s office, that they’d, established a good rapport. One day, I’d called to inquire, the assistant told me that Fonzi was out to lunch with Clark, that Clark gave her a bouquet of flowers, because it was her birthday that day.
illustration from UDN.com
Once as I went to a large show in Florida, Fonzi arrived two days before, went sightseeing with her boyfriend first. Afterwards, the company also, offered her, many opportunities to the large shows we’re, involved in, hoping to, expand the markets. We’d slowly noted, that her familiar places were limited only to the office where she worked. Although, she had, brought some opportunities some suggestions for the case, but they’re, actually from Clark’s company, there’s no expansion of a larger clientele from her.
Fonzi slowly came to understand, that it takes time, to establish the connections, that she couldn’t get the connections by attending the conferences, or shows every now and then. She’d told us, that she’d lacked the patience of this, and the determination to work hard to establish the connections, and said she’d wanted to, quit. Out of our expectation, she’d asked us, not to contact the manager who’d connected her with us, Clark.
My husband, Sheng-Nien and a few officers discussed whether if there are chances that they could, give the smaller, the not-as-technical cases to Fonzi to manage, but nobody agreed. Primarily, because she’d lacked any experiences in working the cases, it’s really risky, to have her handle a case all on her own. And she just started working for the firm, that she’d, received the higher salaries of a manager, because of the specific requirements of the clients of the cases; the company can’t afford to have a highly-paid manager, and needed other managers, to help her out. And so, I can only tell Fonzi, that there’s, no other openings, that I need to see if there are, other opportunities for another position in the firm for her.
She Said that Clark was in Pursuit of Her, But She Already Has a Boyfriend
Later on, one day, Fonzi called Sheng-Nien up, she’d wanted to transfer to the managing department, and that she didn’t want to be in contact with Clark’s company again. She’d told us, that Clark had intentions of pursuing her, but she already has a boyfriend, and wasn’t interested in Clark, and this sort of a relationship, it kept her from being as professional as she’d needed to be, with the firm. As Sheng-Nien was about to call the local office manager to inquire about the matter, to sort out this matter, Fonzi said that the company refused to help her out, and hired a lawyer, to file a sexual harassment suit against the equal treatment committee of our company. She’d told, that she knew that our company is small-scaled, and couldn’t afford to pay for too much of the damages in money, that the company shouldn’t, overreact, because we’re not, her primary targets.
As we had, discussed this matter with the office manager, and connected the pieces together, we’d all, understood it. Clark was the one who’d helped Fonzi find her job as a manager, introduced her to many of the cases she now has, the two of them started, getting close, and, gone to various company functions. She’d gone to the private gatherings that Clark has with his families. Back then, he was filing for divorce, and Fonzi was single, and already divorced, it’s just, that by the time Clark finalized his divorce, Fonzi found another love, and Clark couldn’t slam on the brakes fast enough, and his pursuits of her turned into, sexual harassment. She’d demanded that the company transfer her to another position but because of her skill set and her high demands on salaries, we couldn’t immediately find a fitting position for her. And maybe, she’d known, that the client company is huge, that there are the budgets they have, for the litigations, and so, she’d come up with the thought, of having her attorney file a charge against the manager’s sexual harassment toward her, and sued our company, for not helping her get away from this bad environment, and asked both our companies, for huge sums of payments.
The litigation processes last several years, and, multiple hearings were, held, the documents examined over, over, and over. With Fonzi crying in court, describing how she’d been, sexually harassed, but the testimonies of the assistant, and Clark’s subordinates told another story. No witness heard her complained, including how she was, forced to attend any of the functions related to Clark, including the ball games, the meal gatherings, the gatherings. Everyone only remembered how she’d accepted the bouquets so happily, and laughed, gotten along with him well, and, there was a witness who’d provided a card signed, “Love, Fonzi” to Clark. The litigation didn’t get any results, they’d settled the matter outside of court, and, the plaintiff didn’t get the huge sum she’d, expected to gain from it, only the smaller amounts, a sort of a symbolic thing, and nobody knew, if it were, enough, to pay for her fees for hiring the attorney to file the claims.
As the company slowly matured, the various policies started, getting set, and, toward the sensitive issues of sexual harassment, the personnel’s department immediately took the time, to sort through it by the legal standards. And even though up to this day, I’d not felt, that the company did anything wrong back then, but because our company was very small, we’d not had enough experiences, we’d not, swiftly, handled the matter, otherwise, we could’ve, easy, do away, with the messes of all the years that came later. Surely, you’d needed the experiences, to grow wiser. From this, I’d also become, more in tuned, of whether or not the one who’s “victimizes”, was looking to get more than what s/he was, able to receive.
And so, because this was your start-up company, and therefore, you don’t have the clear-cut rules set up regrading sexual harassment in the work setting, but after this, you’d, learned your lessons, and, you’d, paid a small sum of settlement, to learn this lesson.
Life, the Obstacle Course 