Disclosure_ A Novel - Michael Crichton [154]
They held the press conference at four, in the main downstairs conference room. Strobes flashed as Garvin stood before the microphone, at the end of the table.
“I have always believed,” he said, “that women must be better represented in high corporate office. The women of America represent our nation’s most important underutilized resource as we go into the twenty-first century. And this is true in high technology no less than in other industries. It is therefore with great pleasure that I announce, as part of our merger with Conley-White Communications, that the new Vice President at Digital Communications Seattle is a woman of great talent, drawn from within the ranks in our Cupertino headquarters. She has been a resourceful and dedicated member of the DigiCom team for many years, and I am sure she will be even more resourceful in the future. I am pleased to introduce now the new Vice President for Advanced Planning, Ms. Stephanie Kaplan.”
There was applause, and Kaplan stepped to the microphone and brushed back her shock of gray hair. She wore a dark maroon suit and smiled quietly. “Thank you, Bob. And thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to make this division so great. I want to say particularly that I look forward to working with the outstanding division heads we have here, Mary Anne Hunter, Mark Lewyn, Don Cherry, and, of course, Tom Sanders. These talented people stand at the center of our company, and I intend to work hand in hand with them as we move into the future. As for myself, I have personal as well as professional ties here in Seattle, and I can say no more than that I am delighted, just delighted, to be here. And I look forward to a long and happy time in this wonderful city.”
Back in his office, Sanders got a call from Fernandez. “I finally heard from Alan. Are you ready for this? Arthur A. Friend is on sabbatical in Nepal. Nobody goes into his office except his assistant and a couple of his most trusted students. In fact, there’s only one student who has been there during the time he is away. A freshman in the chemistry department named Jonathan—”
“Kaplan,” Sanders said.
“That’s right. You know who he is?” Fernandez said.
“He’s the boss’s son. Stephanie Kaplan’s just been named the new head of the division.”
Fernandez was silent for a moment. “She must be a very remarkable woman,” she said.
Garvin arranged a meeting with Fernandez at the Four Seasons Hotel. They sat in the small, dark bar off Fourth Avenue in the late afternoon.
“You did a hell of a job, Louise,” he said. “But justice was not served, I can tell you that. An innocent woman took the fall for a clever, scheming man.”
“Come on, Bob,” she said. “Is that why you called me over here? To complain?”
“Honest to God, Louise, this harassment thing has gotten out of hand. Every company I know has at least a dozen of these cases now. Where will it end?”
“I’m not worried,” she said. “It’ll shake out.”
“Eventually, maybe. But meanwhile innocent people—”
“I don’t see many innocent people in my line of work,” she said. “For example, it’s come to my attention that DigiCom’s board members were aware of Johnson’s problem a year ago and did nothing to address it.”
Garvin blinked. “Who told you that? It’s completely untrue.”
She said nothing.
“And you could never have proved it.”
Fernandez raised her eyebrows and said nothing.
“Who said that?” Garvin said. “I want to know.”
“Look, Bob,” she said. “The fact is, there’s a category of behavior that no one condones anymore. The supervisor who grabs genitals, who squeezes breasts in the elevator, who invites an assistant on a business trip but books only one hotel room. All that is ancient history. If you have an employee behaving like that, whether that employee is male or female, gay or straight, you are obliged to stop it.”
“Okay, fine, but sometimes it’s hard to know—”
“Yes,” Fernandez said. “And there’s the opposite extreme. An employee doesn’t like a tasteless remark and files a complaint. Somebody has to tell her it’s not harassment. By then, her boss has been accused, and