The Lawsuit
Chapter 13 - The Lawsuit
Harbor Mobility accused Eleanor of damaging the company she had founded.
Breach of fiduciary duty.
Improper disclosure.
Corporate sabotage.
The complaint demanded $40 million in damages.
Eleanor read the number without reacting.
Rachel did not.
“Forty million dollars?”
“They want to scare me.”
“Is it working?”
Eleanor looked at Samuel.
He didn't answer quickly enough.
That was answer enough.
If Eleanor lost, she could lose almost everything outside the shares already tied up in corporate structures.
Her home.
Her investments.
The security she had spent thirty years building.
Rachel stood.
“Take the settlement.”
Eleanor stared at her.
“What?”
“Call them.”
“No.”
“Eleanor, this is insane.”
“You wanted me to fight.”
“Not destroy yourself.”
Eleanor's voice softened.
“Rachel, they already destroyed pieces of both of us.”
“That doesn't mean you hand them everything else.”
“No.”
Eleanor looked toward Noah, who was quietly repairing a broken toy car on the floor.
“It means we stop letting fear decide what we're willing to know.”
Rachel began crying.
“I can't be responsible for you losing your home.”
“You aren't.”
“This started because Noah talked to you.”
Eleanor smiled.
“No.”
She rolled closer.
“This started because someone decided money mattered more than people.”
The lawsuit moved quickly.
So did the investigation.
Former employees began contacting Samuel.
Most wanted anonymity.
One did not.
Her name was Janet Cole.
She had served as Victor's executive assistant.
Janet arrived carrying a cardboard box.
“I should've done this years ago.”
Inside were printed emails.
Meeting agendas.
Internal memos.
And one handwritten note.
Samuel read it.
Then looked at Eleanor.
“Where did you get this?”
Janet's eyes filled with shame.
“I wrote it.”
It was a record of a private meeting.
Victor had been informed about Daniel's final test.
The board's risk committee had discussed a recall.
Estimated cost: $18.7 million.
Estimated cost of private settlements if complaints arose: less than $4 million.
Next to the numbers, Victor had written:
NO RECALL. CONTROL EXPOSURE.
Eleanor felt nauseated.
But the final line was worse.
E.G. MUST NOT BE INFORMED UNTIL TRANSACTION CLOSES.
Eleanor looked at Janet.
“What transaction?”
Janet hesitated.
“The acquisition.”
“What acquisition?”
Janet's answer revealed the secret behind everything.
May you like
Victor had been negotiating to sell Harbor Mobility.
And if the safety defect became public, he stood to lose a personal bonus worth $12 million.
