(Author's Note: Three chapters left, but only one more excerpt left to post.)
Nearly a month later, I met with the same people in another small stuffy room and gave a second deposition.
Four hours into the process, my lawyer, George, began to get upset. “She’s told you all this stuff before,” he sternly informed the opposing counsel. “Start asking her new questions. It’s time to get on with it!”
Sue Ann began slinging her shoulder-length hair - you would think it was 1969 and she was at a Beetle’s concert the way she was acting. “I will ask her whatever I want to, George!” she yelled back. “And don’t you raise your voice like that to me!”
I couldn’t help but smile as they continued bickering back and forth. Sue Ann was showing some emotion, one thing Buddy’s didn’t tolerate very well. And there were two company managers in the room, watching her come unglued. Careful, I wanted to teasingly warn her. They’re going to start thinking you’re another overly emotional female who can’t handle the job.
Her big green eyes landed on me, the fire of frustration in their depths. And from that moment on, she was completely ruthless and all but called me psychotic, even though I’d given her medical documents which clearly stated “No Psychosis” in regard to my mental health.
I acknowledged that for a period of roughly three months, I had been edgy and irritable at work. Certainly my coworkers had noticed a change, since I was normally a polite and soft-spoken person. However, one day during this time period, Sissy and I had exchanged heated words about the proper way to handle a certain job detail. In order to calm down, I had briefly walked away from our desks, during which time Sissy had fired-off a very defaming e-mail to Stephen, stating that I had screamed at her and said that I felt like killing someone.
When they produced a copy of Sissy’s e-mail, I glanced over it and looked point-blank at the attorney. “I didn’t scream at her and I never said that I felt like killing someone. Sissy has a knack for blowing things way out of proportion.”
“Oh, really,” Sue Ann almost sneered, cleverly adverting her head to the side so the court reporter could not read her lips and document the verbal stab.
Then she produced an e-mail from Tess in which she’d complained to Stephen because I had cried at my desk one day. In the text, Tess had said, “I feel like turning her over my knee and spanking her.”
I couldn’t help but recall that Tess had also cried at her desk several times and that I had actually hugged the woman during her time of need. All these documents proved was that (A) I was a much nicer person than my coworkers and (B) that my work environment had been even more hostile that I’d originally realized.
“What does this tell you about the types of people I was working with?” I asked, feeling a bit sad and disappointed in Tess’s critical and unnecessary remark.
Sue Ann shrugged her broad shoulders indifferently. “Apparently your coworkers found you unstable.”
I reminded the opposing counsel that these two ladies were the best of friends and that they loved to gossip about other people. I’d sent them enough e-mails to prove my statement. And if needed, I could also provide them with evidence showing Tess and Sissy had both encouraged me to report my experiences to the EEOC.
It didn’t matter. With another shrug of her shoulders, the attorney called an end to the deposition. Just like that it was over - based on a few flaming e-mails and catty gossip, Buddy’s was planning to portray me as a crazy person.
I had actually expected something a little more original than the Nuts or Sluts defense from a high-powered corporate attorney. But, perhaps, when fearing a loss, even the big firms will resort to whatever has worked for them in the past.