Page 11 of Insidious Threats
Mickey removed a pair of reading glasses from his breast pocket and perched them on the end of his nose, then pulled a notepad from his bag and uncapped his pen. “I assume Ms. Teale-James has decision-making authority on behalf of WACB?”
He directed the question toward Gabe, but Amanda answered it. “Yes. Well, effectively.”
“Meaning what?” Mickey countered, slipping out of his good old boy routine and getting serious.
“Meaning, I have decision-making authority on behalf of Leith Delone.” She glanced around the table. “I’m sure we can all agree he has the ultimate decision-making authority for all his business entities, including the news station. Ergo, I do, too.”
“Taste the power,” Naya mumbled the candy company slogan under her breath. Sasha aimed a gentle-ish kick at her shin.
Gabe nodded his agreement with Amanda’s assessment, and Mickey turned toward Maisy. “Is that okay with you, Ms. Farley?”
“With me?” Maisy repeated, wide-eyed.
Sasha couldn’t tell whether her surprise at being consulted was genuine or feigned. Maisy had met Mickey several times over the years, and Sasha was sure it hadn’t been lost on her that Mickey was enthralled by her. Was that the explanation for his over-the-top performance?
Mickey smiled his encouragement. “Yes, ma’am, you.”
“As long as Attorney Teale-James can authorize a seven-figure wire transfer, I’m fine with it.”
The lawyer’s head snapped back. “Now, wait just a minute—”
Mickey forestalled her protest before it gathered steam. “Ah, I don’t think that’s in the cards today, Maisy. We’re here to …”—he paused to glance down at his notes—“… resolve a discovery issue.” He looked up and surveyed the table. “Ugh, really? You can’t all play nice? Ms. Teale-James, would you—?”
This time she cut him off. “ATJ is fine.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Call me ATJ. It saves time.”
“ATJ,” Mickey repeated before turning to Sasha. “You want me to call you SMC?”
“No.”
“Anybody else have a moniker they prefer, whether for efficiency or other reasons?” He waited a beat. When nobody responded, he continued, “Okay, ATJ, according to the materials Ms. Farley’s attorneys submitted with their request for this meeting, back in September and October, the television station provided a series of reasons why they hadn’t paid the contractually required separation bonus. Ms. Andrews and Mr. Parente met in October and reached an agreement that the station would pay Ms. Farley before the end of the calendar year—”
“But then the station learned Maisy was trying to poach its employees,” Gabe interjected.
Mickey eyed the lawyer over the top of his glasses. “I was getting to that. Now, McCandless, Andrews & Volmer’s timeline indicates the so-called poaching occurred in December, more than four months after Maisy was terminated and two months after you and Naya met to hammer out the details. Is that accurate?”
Gabe frowned and flipped through a small leather-bound calendar. “Yes, just before Christmas. Naya called and asked where we were on the payment, and I explained things were on hold while we investigated which of the station’s employees were approached.”
Sasha cleared her throat to draw Mickey’s attention.
“Counselor?”
“IfMaisy approached any employees, she was within her rights.Shewasn’t in violation of her non-compete agreement. That agreement says she can’t take an on-air position at another local station for a period of six months. There’s not a word in it about not hiring away WACB’s employees. So the argument—some might call it an excuse—WACB gave for delaying payment in December wasn’t made in good faith. Everyone in this room can see it for what it is.”
She paused when ATJ opened her mouth. But the other woman must’ve reconsidered, because she clamped her jaw shut again.
Sasha continued, “The issue then is whyisthe television station dragging its feet? Mr. Parente intimated that Mr. Delone—and, by extension, ATJ—is calling the shots. That, in and of itself, is weird. A million dollars shouldn’t be enough to warrant Mr. Delone’s attention. Not if the reports of his net worth are to be believed. But, maybe those reports are exaggerated. Maybe they’re pure fiction. Maybe he’s moon-poor the same way someone who overspends on a new residence is house-poor. We have no idea. So we requested limited financial discovery into Leith Delone’s personal finances to determine why he’s trying to stiff our client. And ATJ is refusing to produce it.”
“ATJ, any response?” Mickey swiveled in his chair to face her directly.
She jutted her chin forward. “Yes, I have a response. If you want to talk about a bad-faith argument, the claim that Mr. Delone’s television station isn’t capable of paying Ms. Farley because of his personal financial situation is the height of a bad-faith argument. This financial discovery is clearly intended to harass and embarrass my client.”
“For the sake of clarity, when you say your client, you mean Leith Delone, right? Not WACB,” Naya said in a cool tone.
“As I’ve already said, I represent Mr. Delone and his business interests.”
