Billing.
Accessibility.
Employee conduct.
High-risk categories received independent review rather than remaining with regional managers.
It was supposed to reduce the exact kind of burying Bradley Walsh had exploited.
Avery had approved it personally.
That fact now sat uncomfortably in her stomach.
At 8:40 that morning she entered a conference room with only three people.
Camille.
General counsel Elaine Foster, who had returned temporarily from retirement as a board adviser.
And Priya Raman, Meridian’s head of data systems.
Priya read the anonymous pages.
Her expression changed.
“No.”
Avery leaned forward.
“No, it isn't possible?”
“No, I don't want it to be possible.”
“Different answer.”
Priya nodded.
“The model assigns preliminary categories, but humans can override.”
“Who?”
“Compliance analysts.”
“All?”
“Senior analysts.”
“Regional?”
“No. Centralized.”
Elaine asked:
“Can a complaint be removed from discrimination review after initial classification?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Anyone with Tier Three compliance access.”
Avery’s eyes narrowed.
“How many people?”
Priya opened her laptop.
“Thirty-seven.”
“That is not centralized control.”
“It was considered appropriate segregation of duties.”
“Who recommended thirty-seven?”
Priya hesitated.
“The consulting team.”
Avery waited.
Priya continued.
“Pinnacle Risk Systems.”
Avery knew the name.
Meridian had hired Pinnacle eighteen months after Flight 417 to redesign customer compliance.
They were expensive.
Well regarded.
Their founder frequently spoke at corporate ethics conferences.
“Who owns Pinnacle?”
Elaine asked.
Priya looked confused.
“Public-private partnership structure. Majority founder ownership.”
“Founder?”
“Jonathan Kessler.”
Avery recognized him.
Everyone in aviation compliance did.
Former federal regulator.
Television commentator.
A man who once congratulated Avery publicly for Meridian’s transparency reforms.
Avery felt irritation rise.
“Pull the override log.”
Priya typed.
A table appeared.
Thousands of records.
Avery said:
“Filter complaints initially flagged for discrimination.”
Priya did.
“Now show those later changed to another category.”
The number appeared.
Eight hundred seventy-three.
Nobody spoke.
Elaine leaned forward.
“How many total discrimination classifications?”
Priya checked.
“Two thousand one hundred and six.”
Avery stared.
More than forty percent had been changed.
“Normal?”
Priya shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
She began opening records.
One complaint originally classified:
POSSIBLE RACIAL PROFILING — LOUNGE ACCESS.
Final classification:
DOCUMENT VERIFICATION DELAY.
Another:
DISABILITY ACCESS / EMPLOYEE CONDUCT.
Final:
CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION ISSUE.
Another:
RELIGIOUS PROFILING — SECURITY ESCALATION.
Final:
PASSENGER MISUNDERSTANDING OF PROCEDURE.
Elaine said quietly:
“Who changed these?”
Priya added a column.
The same user ID appeared repeatedly.
JKS-ADMIN.