Chapter 21 - The severance fight
Victor’s contract arbitration focused on money.
Not whether Sarah loved me.
Not whether workers suffered.
Money.
If termination for cause stood:
No severance.
Certain unvested awards forfeited.
Clawback possible.
If not for cause:
Eighteen months salary and target bonus.
Estimated:
$940,000.
That was why definitions mattered.
Victor argued:
Board retroactively judged historical conduct under modern standards.
Some failures were known or ratified.
No formal compliance order was knowingly violated.
Related-party consultancy had historical disclosure.
Sarah dispute was ancient.
Company argued:
Current repeated failures plus historical concealment established willful misconduct.
Then $146,000 bonus clawback.
Compensation committee had contractual authority to recover incentive compensation if financial metrics were materially affected by misconduct or compliance failure.
Did wage deductions materially affect EBITDA?
Yes, but company-wide effect small.
Did it affect whether threshold bonus levels were hit?
In three years, possibly.
Expert calculated range:
$101,000–$164,000.
Victor’s expert:
$42,000–$79,000.
Arbitrator did not decide immediately.
Then Crown Bridge.
Company sued consultancy separately for:
$118,000 unsupported fees.
Crown Bridge produced deliverables.
Some thin.
Some real.
Settlement discussions:
$52,000 repayment.
No admission.
Victor not party to settlement personally.
Then Sarah said:
“Are you enjoying this?”
“What?”
“Having lawyers reduce betrayal to decimal points.”
“No.”
“You used to.”
That was unfair.
Then I remembered board meetings where I said:
“Take emotion out.”
Maybe not unfair.
I said:
“Numbers are easier.”
“Yes.”
“They don’t cry.”
“No.”
“They also don’t forgive.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Don’t get poetic.”
I laughed.
“Sorry.”
Then she handed me Mia’s backpack.
“School pickup Thursday.”
That was new.
She trusted me to pick up my granddaughter.
Written school authorization.
Emergency contacts.
No guardianship.
No money.
A line on a form:
Arthur Harrison — maternal grandfather.
I stared too long.
Sarah said:
“It’s not a medal.”
May you like
“I know.”
Good.
