Page 7 of Feared

“But you are my first and only choice. I want you. We all do.”

“We do,” Mary said, but didn’t say more.

“We really do,” Judy chimed in.

“I wish I could, but I can’t.” Roger smiled, tenting his slim fingers, but Bennie was getting frustrated.

“Roger, why not?”

“For starters, I have a bad feeling about this lawsuit. I read the Complaint you emailed me and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. I sense that there’s more here than meets the eye. You know in movies, when they say, ‘this time it’s personal’? I get the same sense about this lawsuit.”

Bennie hesitated. “Okay, you’re right, it’s personal. The attorney on the other side is Nick Machiavelli, do you know him?”

“I’ve heard of him.”

“He’s an old nemesis of Mary’s, and she beat him last case and he’s coming back with a vengeance. We believe he put the plaintiffs up to this matter. He manufactured the case.”

Roger blinked. “So my intuition was correct.”

“Yes.”

“Then I decline the representation.”

“Roger, come on. You represent lawyers accused of legal malpractice. How much more personal can it get?”

“This. A personal vendetta.”

Bennie blinked. “How did you even know that from the Complaint?”

“I asked myself why the plaintiffs are proceeding under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act as opposed to Title VII.”

“Our firm is too small to be covered by Title VII. We’re only four employees and three partners.”

Roger raised a hand. “That’s not what’s significant here. Although both the federal and state statutes outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act has sharper teeth. Most significantly, under the PHRA, a plaintiff can sue a defendant personally and individually. That’s what they’re doing in this case. You three were named as individual defendants. That’s not possible under Title VII.”

“Damn, I should have realized that.” Bennie pursed her lips, frowning. Judy and Mary exchanged glances. They should haverealized that, too, but they’d been too upset. The baby kicked hard, like a rebuke.

Roger frowned slightly. “This provision weaponizes the statute. You’re personally liable for any damages. It also throws your liability coverage into question. If you’re not covered by insurance, then each of you would have to pay damages personally.”

“Understood.” Bennie nodded, and Mary felt a wave of fear. She and Anthony didn’t have the financial cushion to withstand a personal judgment. And she felt a wave of guilt, too, for getting him, Bennie, and Judy, into this mess. She was Machiavelli’s real target, but they were caught in the crossfire.

Roger continued, “Secondly, under the PHRA, there’s no cap on compensatory damages, as under Title VII. Under Title VII, damages against even a firm of fourteen employees are capped at $50,000. Punitive damages are available under Title VII, but not under the PHRA, but they’re so rarely awarded that it doesn’t make a difference for your purposes.”

“So the exposure is broader.”

“Correct.” Roger untented his fingers. “You have thirty days to answer the Complaint. Though extensions are freely given, I would suggest you do not extend.”

“I absolutely agree. That’s how we litigate. Even as defendants, we’re aggressive. We take the lead and never let go. In fact, we need to file an answer to this, right away.”

“No, you don’t.”

Bennie frowned. “Why? Don’t you want to take the initiative?”

“Yes, I do. That’s why I would wait.”

“How is waiting ‘taking the initiative’?” Bennie asked, but Roger only smiled, somewhat condescendingly, to Mary’s eye.

“I have the same question,” Mary said, backing Bennie up.