“Maya?”
She looked at the screen.
“There was an incident on my flight.”
Malcolm frowned.
“What incident?”
Maya said:
“A flight attendant spilled food on me while I was holding my daughter.”
Silence.
“She then questioned whether I belonged in my confirmed first-class seat.”
No one moved.
“She took my boarding pass.”
“Asked for identification.”
“Attempted to relocate me despite the manifest confirming the seat.”
Malcolm’s face changed.
“That happened today?”
“Less than an hour ago.”
Anderson leaned back.
“Oh, Jesus.”
Maya continued.
“I am telling you this because it may be relevant to how the policy is being interpreted.”
Malcolm immediately said:
“This is exactly why you should recuse yourself.”
Maya stared at him.
“From what?”
“Any decision about my employment.”
“Because a frontline employee behaved badly toward me?”
“Yes.”
Maya considered.
Then nodded.
“Perhaps.”
Everyone looked surprised.
Maya continued.
“I will ask general counsel for an opinion.”
Malcolm seemed relieved.
Then Maya added:
“But my recusal from the final vote does not make your email disappear.”
His face tightened again.
General counsel spoke.
“We anticipated the issue.”
Maya looked toward her.
“Our view is that Maya’s personal incident creates a potential appearance concern regarding direct disciplinary decisions tied specifically to today’s event.”
She paused.
“It does not require recusal from the CEO matter because the board investigation predates the flight and is based on independent documentary evidence.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“Convenient.”
Maya’s eyes went cold.
“That word has had an exhausting day.”
Nobody understood.
She did not explain.
The board meeting continued.
The evidence expanded.
Complaint data manipulated.
Customer-care analysts pressured to downgrade incidents.
A compliance director who objected had been removed from reporting lines.