Do Unto Others

Do unto Others

It was 1980. Leona was hired to work on the assembly line and did an excellent job. She worked her way up to a technician position and then moved up to a director position from there during her years of attending medical school she became an MD. Always meticulous at her work very conscientious and took her work in medical fields very seriously she not once made an error. The small pharmaceutical company was growing at a slow rate.

Every morning she got up at 4:00 a.m. and was out the door at 5:30 a.m. going to work traveling 2 hours to arrive on time. All of her colleagues admired her ambition, her knowledge and her enthusiasm in the medical field. During all this as she worked her way all the way up to vice president with MD after her name. Working for one pharmaceutical company for 34 years with a perfect record she was suddenly let go. She received her benefits, her severance pay and was asked to leave quietly and not to say a word to anyone. She chose to tell me I was her friend, her colleague, her ear listener and her sounding board. Not once did I say a word to anyone until now.

She was again respected by all. All except one man his name was Vincent. Vincent was her supervisor, her manager, her superior. In the 34 years that Leona worked in this company he has never looked her in the eye not once. He never went into her office, never once praised her or even spoke to her. Leona had a successful drug that she was working on had finally passed inspection it was cleared, it was going to be on the market any day now. They actually named the drug LBP after Leona’s initials. She was so proud of herself and her department gave for the huge party and took her out to dinner that evening. That drug will make the company millions and millions of dollars within the next 10 years. What is success who could have ever dreamed it, but Leona did.

The day arrived it was  a typical Monday morning, Leona got up and she had a cup of coffee got ready for work and off she went. She arrived at work and sensed a cold and distant feeling from everyone. She didn't exactly know what it was but it was a little frightening. The owner met her colleagues for lunch everyone was on the quiet side.

 Her team members unusually were not talkative and not so chipper and yet upbeat as usual but again she sensed there was something wrong, something was out of sorts but she couldn't put a finger on it. The time is now two pm she's in her office working on sign off the final documentation for the drug. There is a knock on the door there was Vincent. Her mouth dropped. She knew deep inside this couldn't be right. Vincent said her services were no longer needed and she needed to leave immediately there is no time for her to pack up “just take your coat and her purse and leave”, he said. The security guard was there to escort her to her vehicle and another one followed her off the property. Was she a criminal? What did she do wrong? She certainly felt like one.  Now if you know Leona like I know Leona she would not take this lying down she contacted her superiors in the four other countries that she worked with. There was Manabu in Japan, Shultz in Biberach, Jose in Venezuela and Vikrame in India. .

They all advised Leona to take the same action. They all told her to demand an internal investigation. This is where her peers would be the judge and decide her fate as well as the fate of those in question, aka Vincent and the owner. This has been done with paid employees of multi-million dollar companies in the past.

           Two weeks has passed and the hearing began there were “6 jurors”, “2 attorneys”, “one judge” ”and one defendant”. The trial lasted just 3 hours. The jurors deliberated for less than an hour. They came back and the verdict was decided that Leona did nothing wrong it was a wrongful termination and she was awarded a 5 year salary, all the bonuses that which she would have accumulated and  5 years of medical expenses. Since  and she didn't have use of a company car any longer she was awarded the company vehicle she drove.

When this was all over and I was out in the hallway I heard to jurors talking their conversation was of the fact that if it happened to Leona this could happen to one of them at a moment’s notice. What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. The writing was on the wall. Leona was treated like a criminal. The reason for the termination is that Leona was the most successful female MD and Vincent was simply jealous. He besmirched Leona to the owner. Vincent and the company were completely negligent and they had to pay the Piper. Leona at the age of 65 was now able to retire and live very comfortably and her brand new farmhouse that she always wanted an upstate New York.