Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1) (66 page)

Stan groans. “Is this really necessary? Can’t our teams do this?”

“Employees need to know that each of us have not only taken the required training but support it and expect the rest of the organization to do the same,” Jack chimes in.

“That’s right,” I say, agreeing with his sentiments.

“What are we supposed to say?” asks Ted.

“Great question. I’ve created the scripts for you but you can tailor them as appropriate.” I smile and continue. “I’ve also randomly selected the topics you’ll each address. When you have a minute you can look over the details, including your script and let me know if you have any questions.”

Everyone looks over their handouts. I know precisely the moment Lucas finds his assigned policy as the temperature in the room reaches boiling.

Serves him right.

When the meeting ends the rest of Jack’s staff swarms Lucas and Mike with congratulations, and I somehow manage to escape the conference room for the safety of my office.

My relief is short lived.

Lucas flies through the door and barely shuts it before launching into his tirade. “Is this some sick fucking joke?” he seethes, waving a particular policy in his hand. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Sexual harassment? Is that what you’re calling this?”

“Names were chosen at random. But whatever happened earlier, it won’t be happening again.”

“Because of Mike?” He steps further inside my office and grasps the back of the chair on the other side of my desk. “He’s leaving. Nothing stopping you two now.”

“Are you serious? We’re back to that?”

Lucas turns his steely gaze on me.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Lucas are you blind? There is nothing going on between me and Mike.”

Lucas clenches his jaw. “How long until you two start publically dating?”

“For the love of God, the man is gay! Mike is gay!”

Lucas balks at my statement. “What? No he’s not.”

“Yes, he is. I know this because Mike figured it out when he was dating Summer five years ago.”

Lucas’s face scrunches up in disbelief.

“It’s no secret. You’ve been in his office. The picture on his desk is of him and his partner. I wasn’t with him or any other man last night. I spent the night with my parents, helping my mom pack so that we can move my grandma into Recollections this weekend. I also spent a great deal of time attempting to remember why on earth I’d risk everything for someone who doesn’t give a shit about me.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “I second guessed ending things yesterday up until you walked into my office today. Thanks for making this easier.”

His face falls. Lucas opens his mouth several times to speak but is apparently at a loss. Whatever half-ass apology he’s going to give me will have to wait because by the time he figures out how to begin someone knocks on my door.

Stepping from behind my desk I move to answer it.

He reaches out, grabbing my hand. “Gabriella…wait.”

“I need to get that. Oh, and by the way, I’m on the pill.”

I can only imagine what an unplanned pregnancy would do to his perfectly scripted life.

He drops my hand yet doesn’t move as I walk past him and open the door. It’s a manager in Ted’s organization.

“Hi, Megan.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” she says glancing past me to where Lucas stands. “This is urgent.”

Over my shoulder I watch Lucas grab his notebook. When the door shuts behind him I give Megan my attention though I can’t deny I’m dying to know what Lucas wanted to say.

“What’s going on?” I gesture for her to take a seat.

“Randy’s acting up again.”

Great, this is all I need today.

Randy, the same guy who weeks ago stood on the other side of my desk berating me for not supporting him with management up until Lucas put his tirade to an end. From what I’ve heard Randy has been on his best behavior since he received a warning in his file for his inappropriate behavior. Whatever he’s done must be serious for Megan to throw around the word urgent.

“How so?” I ask.

“Well, for a few weeks following the warning we delivered he mellowed out a bit. I actually thought we were past his meltdowns, but then last Tuesday I had to realign resources on one of the project he’s been working on because of a few resignations.”

She takes a deep breath and I take out my notebook.

“Colleen who also reports to me took over as the lead, which I communicated at my staff meeting so it was no surprise that he and others would be taking direction from her.”

I hold up my hand to stop her. “That’s pretty big news. Why didn’t you tell your team in a one on one setting?”

“There’s not enough time in the day, Gabby. We’re behind as it is; I shouldn’t have to coddle a bunch of adults.”

“Megan, you know the way messages are delivered makes a huge difference. It’s not coddling, it being respectful.”

“You’re right. I could have handled it differently. That doesn’t mean his behavior after was justified. He stood up, collected his belongings and made a scene when he left the conference room.”

“What kind of scene?”

“The cursing and door slamming kind. Anyway, Colleen couldn’t find Randy the rest of the day.”

“That was days ago. Why am I just hearing about this now?” I ask.

“Maybe I should have given you a heads up but Colleen wanted to deal with it herself.”

“She’s a team lead, Megan. Not a manager. I think the world of Colleen but she doesn’t have the experience to handle a situation like that on her own.” Megan’s gaze drops to her fidgeting hands. “Where do things stand now? Did Colleen address it with him?”

“She tried. Guess he just nodded but otherwise didn’t react. He’s been a no-show for meetings this morning yet has repeatedly walked by her desk, glaring at her and she received half a dozen emails from him.”

“About what?”

“Nothing, that’s the thing. There’s no subject or message. He hasn’t outwardly threatened her or anything but she’s really uncomfortable and I can’t blame her.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“No. She just gave me the latest update a few minutes before I came here.”

“All right, forward me the emails Randy sent to Colleen today and tell me the names of employees who were in the meeting so I can interview them. After we have more information we’ll talk to Randy and go from there.”

She forwards the emails to me from her phone and includes the names of four employees who witnessed Randy’s outburst.

“And Megan?” I stop her before she leaves. “When the Randy piece is resolved we’re going to talk about how this could have been managed differently and determine next steps for your entire team.”

Megan leaves and I coordinate interviews with her team. As each employee enters my office I explain that a situation has been brought to my attention and that I need to ask them a few questions. Following our company’s procedure for handling investigations, I review the process with them before getting started to ensure they understand what’s expected including confidentiality on both ends where possible, ensure they know that retaliation of any kind won’t be tolerated and describe how follow-up regarding outcomes will be communicated as appropriate.

Employee after employee describes Randy’s outburst in the conference room exactly the same but what’s more concerning is Randy’s behavior since. The two female employees who were also in the meeting have been receiving blank emails as well. What’s worse is that Steve, the employee who publicly accused Randy of holding up the project, woke up to a slashed tire. He contacted the police but there was no evidence of a connection, so they told him to keep an eye on it.

I call our legal counsel to review my notes and then notify Megan to join me so we can discuss next steps. While I’m waiting for her I email Jack and the head of security to give them a heads up on the situation.

Megan and I review the script for our conversation with Randy. Then, I walk her through the basics of holding a difficult conversation in a safe manner, reviewing where to sit and what to do if Randy becomes angry or upset. All of our managers receive training but when you’re faced with a situation where you might need to rely on what you learned it helps to have it fresh in your mind. As a precaution I arrange for a member of the security team to casually be present in the vicinity.

Megan leaves with the task of getting Randy to meet us in a conference room in ten minutes. I gather my things and head in that direction, passing Lucas in the hall.

“Give me five minutes, Gabriella. Please.”

“I can’t be late for my meeting.” I brush past him and walk with purpose down the hall.

I get that he’s feeling shitty but I can’t let that distract me right now. Besides, I need to come to terms with the fact that I should probably apologize too.

Putting everything Lucas related aside, I get settled in the conference room and wait.

When Megan shows up with Randy twenty minutes later he’s oddly calm and remains that way the entire meeting, denying the concerns that have been made about his reaction in the meeting despite there being witnesses and claiming the emails were sent on accident.

“Are we done?” Randy asks.

Sweat forms on his forehead and his knuckles are clutching the arms of the chair so tightly they turn white. It’s times like these that I wish our company empowered me to put him on a paid leave while we determine next steps.

“With questions, yes. While we finish this investigation I want to remind you that per company policy retaliation of any kind will not be tolerated. We’ll work to determine next steps in a timely manner and in the meantime we expect you to remain professional and perform to the expectations of your role.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Randy says flatly but I don’t miss the twitching of his right eye.

“Is it just me or was that creepy?” Megan asks once he’s gone.

“We’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll ask security to keep someone in your area and try to get ahold of our legal partner to talk about next steps.”

“Gabby, I don’t think I can work with him anymore. He lied, he’s volatile…he should be terminated.”

“I understand. I still need to review this with legal, your leadership and Jack. I’ll be in touch soon on next steps and if he does anything inappropriate give me a call right away.”

Unconvinced, she sighs but agrees. “Okay, but I don’t like this.”

I go back to my office and place several calls. The problem is that it’s after 6PM. Ted won’t answer his work issued cell phone after 5PM and our legal partner isn’t answering either. Jack answers and wants Randy fired but knows we can’t do that without legal approval. I promise to keep him updated and call as soon as I have an answer.

I sit back in my chair and groan. What a day. A bottle of wine and a bubble bath are calling my name. Once I email legal with my notes and recommendations that’s exactly what I plan to do.

I’m almost finished when I’m startled by a knock on my door.

“Didn’t mean to scare you. Can we talk?” Lucas asks.

“Not now. This has been a crappy day and I need to finish something time sensitive.”

“I’ll wait,” he insists.

“Unfortunately it’s going to be a while. I’m dealing with an employee situation and I have no idea when I’ll be done. No offense but talking about us after what happened today…” I trail off. “I can’t do this right now.”

He bows his head and shoves his hands in his pocket. Seconds later his lifts his head with a determined expression and tells me, “I’ll give you space for tonight. Come tomorrow we’re going to talk.”

Arguing with him will go nowhere. I don’t have the energy so in order to end this interaction I agree. “Fine, tomorrow. Right now I need you to leave.”

He hesitates but finally does as I ask.

I sigh in relief and finish my email, attaching the blank correspondences from Randy along with my notes. In the process I accidentally double-click inside the blank email from Randy and am suddenly horrified.

Die bitch die.

White font hid the message that now shows up because it’s highlighted. Holy shit.

I open the other messages one at a time. All have similar messages.

I pick up my office phone and dial security at the front desk. There’s no answer. Damn it. As I’m scrolling through my contact list to call the head of security my office door slams shut.

My head jerks up and I make eye contact with Randy.

Shit.

“Hi, Randy, I’m on the phone. Would you mind waiting outside for a minute?”

Expressionless, he slowly stalks forward. He’s not calling my bluff; he doesn’t even care if I’m on the phone or not which is a million times worse.

Die bitch die.

Why couldn’t I have figured out his message earlier? Better yet, why didn’t Jack approve the security recommendation to put a panic button on my desk?

“How can I help you, Randy?”

“Women are at the center of everything that goes wrong in my life.”

A pulsating vein visibly protrudes at his temple and his entire face is so red it’s on the verge of purple. In contrast I’m sure I’m white as a ghost.

“First there was my mother who told me I was stupid my entire life. Then my wife leaves me for another fucking woman. Now I have an incompetent female manager breathing down my neck and you threatening to take away the only thing I have left.”

Recalling my training for situations like this I try remaining calm and attempt to put time back into the situation.

“Today was about getting information Randy. Right now I think we should—”

“Wrong. Just like everyone else you’ve made up your mind. I’m gonna be out of a job, blackballed from getting another.”

Words won’t matter at this point. I’m trapped behind my desk and he’s getting closer.

“Without this job I have nothing,” he snarls.

I open my mouth to scream but don’t get the chance. Randy’s hand slams into the side of my face, knocking me to the ground. Disoriented, I scramble to get up but Randy’s quicker. He yanks me up by my hair and slams me against the whiteboard by my shoulders.