Chapter 16 - I Fire Too Many People
My second major mistake came after Elaine’s preliminary report.
I discovered five employees had handled Mara’s correspondence under Lucasta’s routing instructions.
I ordered:
“Terminate all five.”
My chief operating officer paused.
“Why?”
“They helped hide my child.”
“Did they know that?”
“They touched the letters.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I hated him instantly.
Good executives are annoying when useful.
I called Elaine.
She said:
“Two appear to have had no knowledge. One raised a question. One followed a written protocol. One may have known more.”
“May?”
“We’re investigating.”
I had repeated an old Ashford mistake.
Anyone near the betrayal becomes disloyal.
Fire the room.
Control the uncertainty.
I rescinded the order before notices went out.
Then interviewed each through proper process.
Results:
Employee one:
Mailroom clerk. Delivered sealed packets. No knowledge. Stayed.
Employee two:
Administrative assistant. Followed routing note. Once asked if I should be copied. Stayed and received no discipline.
Employee three:
Event coordinator. Saw name Ellison but no content. Stayed.
Employee four:
Senior private-office administrator. Knew letters referred to a child and accepted Lucasta’s statement that I had ordered no direct contact. Failed to verify despite policy allowing escalation. Formal warning and retraining.
Employee five:
Lucasta’s deputy.
Read several letters.
Knew Mara wanted direct contact.
Helped classify packages under a false legal-hold category.
She was terminated.
No criminal charge.
Civil cooperation.
Specific responsibility.
I called the first four together afterward.
“I ordered all of you fired.”
They knew.
“I was wrong.”
Silence.
One assistant asked:
“Are you saying we can disagree with family principals now?”
The question embarrassed me.
“Yes.”
“Without losing jobs?”
“If you raise good-faith concerns through proper channels, yes.”
She said:
“That has not always been true.”
There.
Old family culture.
Again.
We could not blame Lucasta for exploiting a hierarchy we had rewarded for decades.
We could blame her for choosing how.
May you like
Both.
────────────────────
