Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1) (2 page)

I laugh and flag down the waiter to order us all a round of drinks. Kyra continues typing furiously with her thumbs on her phone’s miniature keypad, stopping every few seconds to toss her silky, black hair over her shoulder while simultaneously cursing.

“We’ll take one
Rosemary’s Baby
, a
Jailbait
and a
Rehab
.” The waiter winks and walks away.

Without looking up, Kyra informs me, “If Summer’s not here soon I’m having her drink too.”

I shake my head at her antics and scour the crowd for any sign of our tardy friend.

Summer and I have been roommates since our freshman year of college. She’s the product of two teen parents who couldn’t afford to raise her and spent her entire adolescence in foster care. No matter how hard growing up was, Summer never let her circumstances get in the way of her dreams. She got accepted to college on a scholarship and worked part-time all four years. Getting to know her isn’t easy but once you do you’re bonded for life. She’s as loyal as they come but also unforgiving when it comes to second chances. I pity the men who have wronged her and unfortunately there have been a few.

Shortly after starting graduate school, Summer and I met Kyra who was in our program but also getting her law degree. Her given name is Jung, which means “silent and chaste”. It would have been the perfect name for a traditional Korean daughter. Unfortunately for her parents it’s her life-long mission to piss them off. She legally changed her name on her eighteenth birthday to Kyra, which based on her Internet research means “strong woman”. She hoped it’d send them over the edge, and internally I’m sure it did, though they’ll never admit it and still won’t call her anything but Jung.

To this day she refuses to date an Asian man just to spite them.

Kyra drops her phone into her purse precisely at the same time the waiter attempts to set her drink on the table. She intercepts her orange vodka concoction and tosses it back in one fluid motion before proceeding to order another.

“Bad day?” I guess while allowing the waiter to actually set my drink down.

Kyra grins wickedly. “I’m totally winning tonight, let’s leave it at that.”

“I wouldn’t get overconfident if I were you,” I warn in a sing-song voice. There’s no way her situation can trump mine.

“Well, if Summer ever shows up, we’ll find out.”

As if on cue, Summer struts through the door in dramatic fashion. I say strut because she walks like she’s on a runway and looks the part too, with long blond hair, even longer legs and an obnoxiously flawless body. She has the name and physique of a stripper and the intelligence of a member of Mensa.

Throwing her purse and a shopping bag into an empty chair, Summer grabs a shot from a passing patron and slams the empty glass on the table.

“I’m going first,” Summer demands.

“Not a chance,” Kyra retorts, crossing her arms over her chest. “Rules are rules, ladies. I won last month. I’m up.”

We don’t have many rules, but the few we have are sacred. The winner of last month always goes first at the next ‘meeting’. Second, no using real names or titles. Third, the case you describe must have taken place in the last month and has to be your issue; not a colleagues. Last but not least, the winner doesn’t pay for drinks anytime we go out over the course of the next month.

Summer glares at Kyra over the rim of her martini. “Get started then. Unless of course you want to wait a few more minutes so you can remember what it was like to be first.”

“Ooohh. Someone’s in a mood,” Kyra teases. “Just for that you can wait until I finish this drink.” Summer huffs and rolls her eyes as Kyra pulls her into a hug. “All right, all right. Let me put you out or your misery.”

Kyra launches into describing a case she recently investigated where a female leader was accused of discriminating against the men she managed. At first it appeared that
the leader was supportive of diversity, hiring women of all ages and ethnicities in a male-dominated field. Sure the women were advancing faster than their male peers, but all employees had development plans in place and the experience and education of the women was superior to that of the men. Kyra was close to dismissing the allegations when one of the women came forward during the investigation with proof that the leader was exchanging sexual favors for promotions…but only with the female employees.

“It’s an interesting case given that men aren’t typically the ones claiming discrimination, but not worthy of first place,” I tell Kyra.

“That’s because you didn’t let me get to the part where the deciding factor in which woman got promoted was based on a point system. The leader kept an electronic file that not only kept a running tally of her subordinates ‘achievements’,” she air-quotes. “There were defined guidelines tied to the performance review process.”

“What do mean?” Summer asks.

“That if the manager was in the mood for some oral and ‘Sue’ was able to juggle her work commitments
and
service her manager during the day, it equated to Sue exceeding expectations. She got more points, a better review and the promotion.” Kyra crosses her arms over her chest.

I drop my head to the side and think over the details. “Wait a minute. What about the men? And why is this a discrimination case verses harassment?” I blurt out my questions as Kyra takes a bite of calamari. She holds up a finger indicating she needs a minute.

“One of the guys on the team found out about the point system from a woman who was passed up for a promotion. He in turn told the two other men on the team and over time, each of them propositioned the manager and all were turned down.” Kyra takes another drink. “They were completely on board so naturally they couldn’t claim harassment.”

“So they claimed discrimination?” Summer asks.

“Yup,” Kyra confirms. “But, now that all the details are coming out the women are claiming harassment. And get this…the manager is also claiming she was harassed by the men!

“The crazy thing is that most of the women, including the manager, were married. Can you imagine telling your spouse you’re involved in a sexual harassment case and then have all these details come out? Or tell your wife you claimed discrimination because your sexual proposition was turned down?”

“What is wrong with people?” I mutter.

“If people were sane we’d be out a job,” Summer points out.

“Cheers to that,” Kyra agrees as we clink glasses.

“Alright…one down, one to go,” Summer eagerly states, rubbing her hands together. She’s basically jumping out of her chair.

I waste no time rehashing my story of nude pictures that led to an executive’s termination. They’re both impressed, but based on the smirk Summer’s sporting, I’ve got a feeling she’s going to trump us both. If her flustered entrance has anything to do with the story she’s about to tell, I’m guessing the scenario she’s about to describe just happened.

“Don’t you want to take off your coat?” I ask Summer. It’s hot as hell in this place and she’s still wearing a trench coat.

“In due time,” she responds, linking her fingers and stretching her arms overhead like she’s preparing for an Olympic event. “Alright, ladies. Prepare to be horrified,” she dramatically begins.

Kyra and I exchange a sideways glance. This has got to be good. In a sweeping hand motion, I let Summer know the floor is all hers.

“Today at 3:27PM, I was pulled out of a financial review by a manager. A woman on my team typically supports this manager, however she’d gone home sick and he claimed to have an issue that required immediate attention. I explained I needed a minute, but he insisted that I follow him immediately. It was an emergency, that’s all he offered.”

She sweeps her hair over her shoulder.

“We took the elevator to the first floor where the customer service team sits. As I followed him through the cubes, I noticed most of them were empty, which is unusual for that time of day. I was wondering where everyone had gone when we got to the last row.”

Summer takes a swig of her drink and flags the waiter down for a refill. Kyra and I again exchange a curious glance.

“At first, all that registered was the back of a man wearing headphones, sitting casually at his desk. No big deal, right?”

We shrug. “Sure.”

“Wrong! The closer we got, I noticed he was making weird sounds, almost like an animal being slaughtered. When I was only a couple yards away the manager stopped and actually began backtracking. I asked what was wrong and he just gestured for me to go forward. I did, because I was annoyed at the manager’s inability to communicate, and also the man had begun twitching. I was freaked out that he could be having a seizure.”

“Shit, was he okay?” I ask.

“Okay?” she hisses and slams her hand on the table. “I shit you not, I put my hand on the man’s shoulder at the same time my eye caught his computer screen.” Summer gags. “He was watching porn!”

“Eww,” Kyra and I exclaim.

“And not just any kind of porn; there were animals and people together. Beastiality! I had to Google it so that my notes were accurate,” she exasperates.

We all take a drink.

“That’s not even the worst part,” Summer exclaims while unbuttoning her trench coat. “That fucker was twitching because he was jacking off right under his desk. When I touched his shoulder, he wiped around and…finished.”

She hops down from her stool and rips open her jacket to reveal a beautiful navy blue dress, with a crusty looking white stain above her knee.

“Is that?” Kyra asks, bending forward for a closer examination.

“Yes. Yes, it is. He…jizzed all over my dress!”

Alcohol sprays out my mouth and nose, burning my esophagus and nostrils in the process, as we all laugh to point of doubling over.

“Alright, Lewinsky. Hands down, you win!” I announce as tears stream down my cheeks.

“Agreed,” Kyra surprisingly concedes.

Summer’s completely unfazed by her new nickname, likely because it’s too fitting, and also because random shit happens to her all the time. “That’s what I thought.”

“Are you going to get it dry cleaned, or save it as evidence for when you go before the grand jury?” Kyra teases.

“Ha. Ha. Order me another drink,” Summer demands as she grabs an Anthropologie bag and retreats to the restroom.

Minutes later, Summer returns in a black and white tie-neck blouse, paired with black skinny jeans and red pumps.

“Before I forget, a woman from Recollections left a message for you at the apartment,” Summer tells me.

“Finally!” I exclaim. I’ve been waiting for someone to call me back for two weeks. “What’d they say?”

“Just for you to call them back. Why’d they call our home number?”

I shrug. “Jack’s become more supportive of the program but was adamant we needed more options if he was going to take it to the next board meeting for approval. I only have a few weeks to get everything finalized and I haven’t been able to connect with the manager. Figured if I gave her every number I had we’d eventually connect.”

“On a different note, who’s going to replace the executive you fired?” Kyra asks.

“Now that’s an interesting story. Jack has had his eye on an up and comer who’s spent the last six years in the NYC office. Jack’s mentored him for a few years so he’s familiar with the guy’s performance and style.”

“What’s the issue?” Summer asks, sensing my reservations.

I smile, loving how well my friends know me. “He’s a fairly new Vice President who’s never managed people before and he’s going to be promoted to Senior VP in six months if he’s successful—something Jack has made clear he’s counting on me to ensure.”

Summer scoffs. “No pressure, or anything.”

“I know,” I agree. “The guy has an impressive background and I’m looking forward to partnering with him, but he’s only twenty-nine.”

“Hey,” Summer warns. “Age shouldn’t be a deal breaker.”

She should know. At twenty-six she’s already the Vice President of Human Resources for a mid-sized company with an impressive growth trajectory.

“Easy, this isn’t about his age…it’s about his lack of experience.”

“Well did you explain all of this to Jack?” Kyra asks.

“It was too late. He’d already set the transfer in motion before the termination was complete. Somehow he got the general council to let him bypass our job posting guidelines. The guy starts Monday.”

“Why didn’t you just say no?” Summer asks. “Take advantage of your newfound authority.”

It’s an interesting question. A lot of companies run promotions past Human Resources for input, but leave the decision making up to the business. Not so in my company and Summer knows it.

“I’ve taken a look at his past reviews. They’re actually pretty impressive. And his former managers gave him a glowing recommendation. Besides my manager sent me her approval from the delivery room. I didn’t actually get to make the call,” I admit. “It’s better this way though. Jack’s getting his guy. I’ll support him and help him navigate any issues, and with Jack on my good side, I figure he’s more likely to push the board in my favor when it comes to the Elder Care Program.”

My friends nod. “So besides the few tidbits you found in this file do you know anything else about him?”

“Not really. His name is Lucas and he’s originally from Ireland. That’s pretty much it.”

“Sounds like a winner to me…I love a good accent. Maybe he’ll turn out to be your lucky charm,” Kyra winks.

Finger’s crossed!