“That his allegations were unsupported.”
“Show me the report.”
The COO hesitated.
The room changed.
The chairwoman repeated:
“Show me the report.”
“There may not have been a formal written report.”
The audit chair closed his eyes.
The general counsel looked toward the ceiling.
The chairwoman said:
“So you investigated a compliance complaint without documenting the investigation.”
“It was handled as an employee-relations issue.”
“And then the employee was fired.”
“For insubordination.”
“After refusing to sign the document he complained about.”
The COO said nothing.
The chairwoman reached toward her phone.
Tapped once.
Her assistant placed a paper in front of each executive.
The old severance agreement.
Two weeks pay.
Nondisparagement.
And a clause requiring the mechanic to affirm he knew of no improper compliance practices.
The general counsel picked it up.
His face changed.
“I never approved this language.”
The COO looked toward him.
The chairwoman asked:
“Who did?”
No answer.
The lawyer turned pages.
“This template is not ours.”
The chairwoman leaned back.
“Interesting.”
The COO finally spoke.
“This is being presented out of context.”
The chairwoman almost smiled.
“That phrase has had an exhausting morning.”
He frowned.
She continued.
“You called the terminated mechanic before eight today.”
His face froze.
“How—”
“He saved the voicemail.”
The audit chair looked toward the COO.
The chairwoman’s voice remained calm.
“You offered a private conversation before ‘misunderstandings escalate.’”
“I wanted to resolve an old employment dispute.”
“At seven forty-six in the morning?”
“I heard the audit had reopened.”
“From whom?”
Silence.
The chairwoman continued.
“You also called records management at six twelve.”
The COO stared.
Then the IT manager at six thirty-one.”
His face went white.
The general counsel turned.
“What did you ask IT?”
The chairwoman answered.
“To remove old terminated-employee emails from active indexes.”
The COO stood.
“This meeting is becoming accusatory.”
The chairwoman tilted her head.
“You are free to sit.”
“I want counsel.”
The general counsel said:
“I represent the company.”
The COO looked at him.
For the first time, fear entered.
The chairwoman nodded.
“Then perhaps you should obtain personal counsel.”
The COO sat.
No one spoke for several seconds.
The chairwoman turned toward the audit committee chair.
“I want an independent investigation.”
“External firm.”
“Full preservation.”
“Maintenance.”
“Accessibility reporting.”
“Customer-service scripts.”
“Route-status changes.”
“Employment actions connected to complaints.”
“Every executive involved.”
The audit chair nodded.
The operations president asked:
“What about the service cuts?”
“Frozen.”
“For how long?”
“Until the data can be trusted.”