Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(42)
“Thank you, but no.” Bennie nudged his knee. “Finish that beer, will you?”
“Then what?” Declan smiled. “The laughing gas?”
“No,” Bennie told him. “Home.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Mary sat waiting for Simon, who’d texted he’d be right in. The lounge was empty, so she assumed that her and Simon’s families had either gone home or were downstairs in the cafeteria having lunch. If so, she hoped the hospital had enough baked ziti. She’d given up trying to read her email on her phone because she was too preoccupied. Suddenly she spotted Simon hurrying toward the lounge, and he caught her eye, tugging down his surgical mask to reveal a stricken expression.
Mary pocketed her phone and went to him as soon as he entered the room. “What’s the matter?” she asked, hugging him briefly. “It’s not Rachel, is it?”
“No, that’s why I said ‘no emergency’ in the text. You’re not going to believe this. Todd and OpenSpace are suing me now—for two million dollars.”
Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What are you talking about?”
“They’re saying I defamed him and the company. It’s lies, total lies!” Simon’s eyes were round with fear. “Mary, I don’t know what to do. What do I do? Where am I going to get two million bucks?”
“How do you know this? What are you talking about?” Mary hadn’t even had a chance to tell him that settlement negotiations hadn’t worked this morning.
“Look, here’s the complaint. They just served it on me, here, like, an hour ago. Some guy told the nurses he was a visitor and when I came to see who it was, he handed me the papers and said, ‘Mr. Pensiera, you’ve been served!’” Simon’s words rushed out, driven by stress. “Mary, can they do this? Just lie about things I said?”
“They served you in the hospital?” Mary couldn’t imagine the cruelty it took to serve him suit papers in the Children’s Hospital. “Let me see the complaint. Do you have it?”
“Sure, yes, right, of course, I’m just so scattered, I mean, the doctors are saying that Rachel’s white count just went up, and I just can’t even think straight. Here’s what the guy gave me.” Simon reached into his back pocket, pulled out a sheaf of legal papers, and handed them to Mary. “I guess the settlement talks this morning didn’t go so well, huh?”
“No, I’m sorry, and I was going to tell you after lunch. Bennie pitched them but she doesn’t think they’re going to settle.” Mary skimmed the front page of the complaint, which had been filed in the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia under the caption Todd Eddington and OpenSpace v. Simon Pensiera. The blanks for plaintiff’s counsel were filled in by Coburn and Wright, LLC, so Dumbarton had farmed the case out. Coburn was one of the best boutique law firms in the city, specializing in defamation and related tort actions.
“Oh no, I was really hoping they would settle, it makes so much sense to settle, and they know they were in the wrong.”
“I agree and I’m sorry, but we tried, and I will keep the pressure on toward getting a settlement down the line. A lot of people talk tough in the beginning, then they cave.” Mary didn’t update him on the fussing over the representation issue or the fact that she might leave the firm. Her personal problems were her own, and Simon had enough on his plate right now.
“Okay, listen, I really appreciate you trying and coming down here right now. I just don’t know what to do. This is incredible!”
“You know why they’re doing this, don’t you? They’re trying to intimidate us and back us down.” Mary had seen so much of this lately. More and more, corporations were using litigation as a tool to threaten, bully, and even bankrupt the little guy, like Simon. She wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Where the hell am I going to get two million dollars? We didn’t ask anywhere near that in our complaint, I never would have, and they’re a big company! I’m up to my ears in medical bills, with more on the way.” Simon flailed his hand in the direction of Rachel’s hospital room. “You should’ve heard what these doctors were telling me, the procedures she’s going to need. Her white cells are through the roof. That’s where my money should go, not to some ridiculous lawsuit! It’s her life that’s at stake!”
“Oh, Simon, I’m so sorry.” Mary’s heart went out to him, and she steadied him with her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, we’re going to deal with this. Getting a complaint can be frightening, and that’s what they’re trying to do. It’s like terrorism by litigation. But I’m glad you called me, and just know that I can handle it and we’re going to stay the course.”
“Okay, okay,” Simon said, his forehead wrinkling under the strain. “I used to think I was good in an emergency, but things are really piling up, this is too much. My mother used to say, everybody has a breaking point, and today, I worried I was reaching mine. I thought I was helping Rachel by filing the lawsuit against OpenSpace but now I’m worried that I made everything worse.”
“No, not at all.” Mary felt terrible for him. “You did the right thing, we did the right thing in filing suit against them, and that’s what lawyers are for, to handle the stress. In fact, they’re not supposed to serve you with papers when they know you’re represented by counsel. They’re supposed to serve them on me. So much for the ethics police.”