Problem Solved: Seven-Figure Sexual Harassment Claim
Speaker 1 (00:04):
My name is Michelle Kirkpatrick. I'm an attorney at SRS Acquiom. I went to Berkeley for law school. After I graduated, I started a two-year federal clerkship. During the clerkship, I handled over a hundred different mediations, but also handled a lot of litigation as well. I left the clerkship. I started at the world's largest labor unemployment law firm, where I handled mostly litigation, but also some advice and counsel and I left that firm and came to SRS Acquiom. I was in Delaware. I was leaving mediation and I got a call from one of the folks on our team. Right before closing, there had been an allegation against the CEO of the target company of sexual harassment. They were very worried, obviously an allegation of this magnitude is concerning. They were feeling defensive, they were feeling nervous. They were feeling upset.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So I got right on the phone with the client and I started talking with them. We started developing a strategy immediately. They had not set aside very much money in their expense fund, so I knew we could not rely heavily on outside counsel for this. I knew this was something that I needed to manage very closely myself. We did partner with some experts, and move the matter into a confidential mediation but going into that mediation, our outside counsel actually got a phone call. There had been a family emergency, she needed to leave. So this, you know, under normal circumstances probably would've stopped the mediation. If I had not been there, there wouldn't have been an attorney in the room able to handle this, but thankfully I was there. I was able to step in and help the accuser.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
They wanted a million dollars. But on the other side of it, you know, our clients were sitting there believing that they had done nothing wrong, but I knew from my vantage point that for the shareholders, we couldn't let that emotion carry the day. I knew that we had to step in and reach a resolution that was going to benefit all of the shareholders. I was able to talk with my clients and convince them based on my experience that litigation was not going to be the most productive path. I knew that if we went down that road, we would need to raise money, which they weren't interested in doing and I knew that if we allowed their emotions to dictate the experience, we were going to have real problems. I was also able to navigate the mediator and the other side and, and get them down to a resolution, below six figures.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So a tenth of the original demand, the great news is that we settled it that day. There were no other claims in the deal and we were able to release the escrow right on schedule without having to spend almost any money and without any further issue. They had just bought this company, they didn't want this liability. They didn't want litigation. And they didn't want to have to handle it. So they were very, very pleased when I got to call them later that day and say, this is taken care of, the problem solved.