37 

By April, the litigation gravy train (a term often used by Alexa in their weekly meetings) was moving down the track full steam.

In addition to numerous additional victims filing complaints, Water Circus cross-complained against Larimar Springs, alleging breach of warranty and of contract, as well as negligence and negligent interference with economic relations. They asserted that Larimar Springs had delivered contaminated bottled water to Water Circus and that this conduct had exposed Water Circus to liability and lost business after the E. coli outbreak.

Courtroom battles were mounted over discovery disputes, with the judge generally favoring plaintiffs and allowing broad reach in every instance.

As Mr. Lucier predicted, the court stayed the motion for class certification, instead administratively consolidating the cases for discovery and liability phases, promising to bifurcate the matters when it came time to determine damages.

The judge also warned he would be strongly urging mediation as early as practical.

In a very short time, everyone on the executive team became immersed in Litigation 101, and also realized the company’s financial exposure was fast climbing past their primary liability coverage and would tap into their excess coverage, prompting yet another layer of attorneys to the mix.

Worse, Juliet knew Alexa had more to think about than resolving the company’s legal issues. She needed to restore credibility among their customers. Now that the insurers held the purse strings, she no longer had the final say when it came to legal strategy, creating a tension-filled situation.

For example, Alexa hit the roof when Ellen Shaffer reported she and her public relations firm were getting calls from reporters wanting to know why the company was going back on its word to pay for the victims’ care.

Despite knowing she’d catch the ire of Mr. Lucier and the insurers’ legal counsel, Alexa instructed Ellen to issue a release in which she stated, “Larimar Springs wants desperately to do what is right here. And the right thing is to own up to our responsibility and pay for the expenses incurred when these poor people were in the hospital and needing medical care. Unfortunately, the legal system prohibits our ability to freely exercise that desire.”

“What were you thinking?” Mr. Lucier demanded when he found out. His neck bulged with blue veins. “You might as well have sent the judge a ‘kiss my heinie’ letter with his ruling stapled to the back.”

Despite the circus-like atmosphere created by all the legal wrangling, Alexa never succumbed to another outburst like the one Juliet had overheard outside her office door. That was not to say she didn’t remain wary and on the lookout for fissures in her boss’s censured exterior.

Juliet’s future career would be iced if Alexa failed to keep it together, failed to keep the company running despite the giant boulders blocking the road to financial recovery, or failed to follow through on her intention to make Juliet president.

After she’d headed up the quality control effort at a company responsible for an outbreak of this magnitude, little doubt there’d be no other corporate ladder for her to climb. And without that promised promotion, her effectiveness at Larimar Springs would limp along crippled, at best.

Through it all, and despite the rogue actions of his client, John Davison Lucier promised that everything was still going according to plan and cool heads would prevail. Even the greediest plaintiffs’ attorneys would agree that the expense of protracted litigation with costly experts and a lengthy trial would never net the financial rewards they’d enjoy via a successful mediation and settlement.

Sadly, that juncture remained in the distance until discovery wound to a close and a few key depositions were taken—to satisfy the legal minds that nothing had been left on the table in terms of punitives. After finding no smoking guns in any of the documentary evidence, even Leo Paternoster knew a more limited approach held wisdom.

That didn’t stop the shrewd attorney from noticing up Alexa’s deposition, with several more to follow, including Juliet’s. Clearly, his intent was to leave no stone unturned prior to accepting any settlement offer.

On the morning of her deposition, Alexa showed up at the court reporters’ offices dressed in a tailored Yves Saint Laurent suit, taupe colored with a subtle hint of gray woven into the fabric. Creamy silk ruffles peeked out at the collar, accented with a gold and pearl necklace and a thin yet simple sculptural gold cuff on her wrist. On her feet, she wore red-soled Christian Louboutin patent leather pumps, not for the video camera audience, but a statement for those in the room.

Usually, Alexa pulled her hair back into a woven knot at the nape of her neck, but today she stepped away from her norm and left her blonde hair down in a soft bob, with her lips painted bright scarlet, following Ellen Shaffer’s advice. “The combination will signal like a red flag that you are emotionally connected to the victims in this case, yet fully in charge in every business sense.”

The deposition would take place in a large conference room at the court reporters’ offices located on an upper floor of the Omni Hotel. Allowed inside the deposition room would be the stenographer and videographer, along with the deponent and one attorney from each side, with their respective paralegals. Everyone else, including Juliet, would be in an adjacent room watching a live feed of both the video and a synchronized electronic transcript of the testimony. The judge would be on standby to resolve any significant disputes beyond the standard objections often made for the record by counsel during these proceedings.

Alexa was seated at the end of the table, centered in front of a photo backdrop. The court reporter clipped a microphone in place while Mr. Lucier sat opposite Mr. Paternoster and his paralegal, a young guy with blond hair and an infectious smile. Earlier, he’d wheeled in a couple of banker boxes on a hand truck and had been introduced as Seth Jinks. “This guy here has been with me over five years and is better than three associates put together,” plaintiffs’ counsel claimed.

Alexa poured herself a glass of water and took a sip. She leaned back and gave those in the room a comfortable smile, as if giving deposition testimony was an everyday occurrence.

“You ready?” the court reporter asked.

She nodded, cleared her throat, and directed her attention to Mr. Paternoster, waiting for him to begin.

He too cleared his throat. “Good morning. Could you please state your full name for the record?”

“Alexa Andora Carmichael. I’m the chief executive officer and current president of Larimar Springs Corporation, and I’m also the majority shareholder, holding 75 percent interest.”

Mr. Paternoster lifted his chin. “Please limit your responses to the questions I pose.”

Juliet noted a twinkle in her boss’s eyes and knew she would never subordinate to his wishes. She also knew Mr. Lucier had spent hours preparing Alexa for her testimony. Everything had been well-rehearsed, including this tactical approach.

Primarily, Alexa needed to adamantly stay consistent on two things. First, that she had no knowledge of the bottles of water tainted with E. coli found in the warehouse prior to the CDC’s alert. Second, that as the top corporate official, she had taken every precaution to put the people and procedures in place intended to eliminate a risk of this sort. If Alexa stuck to those themes, opposing counsel could do very little to make a case for punitives.

Leo Paternoster’s mission was as straightforward—to establish she should have known and acted to protect his clients.

The first hour was taken up with preliminary questions—the history of the company, Alexa’s background, her education and work history.

After a quick break, the questions became more focused.

“Now, Ms. Carmichael, let’s go through your corporate structure.” He buried his attention in the papers before him.

“The structure is simple. The entire executive team reports directly to me.”

Mr. Paternoster looked up. “Would you care to wait for a question?”

Alexa reached for her glass and smiled. “Certainly.”

He looked across the table at Mr. Lucier as if to elicit his help. Mr. Lucier simply stared back, his face void of expression.

Mr. Paternoster leaned his arm on the dark wood table. He drew a deep breath. “You’ve stated the entire executive team reports directly to you. Please identify the members of the executive team and state their general areas of responsibility.”

Alexa nodded. “Greer Latham heads up our marketing and sales effort. Fred Macklin is our chief financial officer. Dale Frissom is the director of operations, which includes human resources, bottling, warehousing and distribution, and purchasing. And last spring, Dr. Juliet Ryan replaced Robin Ford as our quality assurance director. She supervises all the testing and lab operations. As I earlier stated, each of these individuals reports directly to me as the chief executive officer.”

Mr. Paternoster thanked her. “Now, for the record, please identify which of these individuals was terminated as a result of the outbreak that is the subject of this litigation.”

Watching the large monitor from the adjoining room, Juliet held her breath. Opposing counsel had taken off the proverbial gloves and was ready for a fight.

Alexa straightened. Nothing in her expression changed as she smiled and gave her response. “No one employed by Larimar Springs was terminated as a result of the outbreak.”

Mr. Paternoster leaned back. His eyebrows lifted. “No one?”

“No one,” she repeated.

“Not one single person on your executive team was held responsible for making dozens of people sick?” He wasn’t ratcheting up for a jury, so clearly he wanted to ruffle his deponent.

Mr. Lucier, who had yet to say a word on record, scribbled something on the lined pad in front of him. “Objection. Argumentative. Assumes facts not in evidence.”

Mr. Paternoster smirked. “Withdrawn.”

Alexa took another drink of water and repositioned herself in the chair.

“Ms. Carmichael, prior to fall of last year when you learned Water Circus patrons were falling ill, what did you know of E. coli O157:H7?”

“Despite the almost nonexistent occurrence of outbreaks connected to bottled water, it was common knowledge in food industry circles that particular bacteria could be virulent and make consumers ill. I was aware of regulations and safety standards that required certain precautions. I hired a highly educated person who was an expert in this field and gave her full support.”

“You’re referring to Dr. Juliet Ryan?”

“Yes. Dr. Ryan was charged with making sure Larimar Springs was compliant with all health regulations. She was also the one assigned to be the liaison with government officials once Larimar Springs had been identified as the source.”

“And which of your executive team members was charged with knowing pallets of bottled water tainted with the deadly O157:H7 pathogen were being shipped to Water Circus and would be distributed to consumers?”

Once again, Mr. Lucier injected a comment onto the record. “Leo, I’d like to direct you to my client’s responses to your interrogatories and requests for admission. We’ve clearly stated in the record that Larimar Springs produced, stored, and later distributed bottled water containing E. coli. As noted, these events happened while Dr. Ryan’s predecessor, Robin Ford, was employed by Larimar Springs. During that time, Ms. Ford grew ill, and the company remains baffled as to why these pallets physically remained in the warehouse while not showing up in the electronic inventories. We can only conclude this to be an error by someone no longer employed by Larimar Springs.”

Mr. Paternoster clicked his pen several times. “Thank you for your testimony, counsel. If you don’t mind, I’d like the deponent’s take on the matter.”

Turning from Mr. Lucier, plaintiffs’ counsel directed his attention at Alexa. “Your attorney has gone on the record stating the company was”—he checked the live feed on his laptop monitor—“uh, yes—‘the company remains baffled as to why these pallets physically remained in the warehouse while not showing up in the electronic inventories.’” He looked back at Alexa. “Is that your testimony here today? Do you personally remain baffled—”

She didn’t wait for him to finish. “I am not only personally baffled, but I’m appalled that this happened.” Her eyes teared. “Unfortunately, the person I had assigned to identify and thwart any potential for our product to fall below the government standards was struggling with her own serious health issues at the time. She assured me necessary precautions had been taken. I trusted her.”

Alexa rushed to add, “We had no reason to suspect—” She faltered. “I mean, there was no way for us to know until all this.” She lifted the glass and took another drink. Her voice choked with emotion. “If I could turn the clock back, I would. I can’t.”

Mr. Paternoster rubbed between his brows. “That was a nice little speech, Ms. Carmichael. Now—”

Ignoring the fact opposing counsel was posing another question, she continued. “Currently, I have the future of nearly three hundred people who work for this company to consider. I have faithful employees nearing retirement, people sending children off to college.” Her chin quivered. “Many people fell ill, and some even died as a result of this unfortunate accident,” she said. “Even the tiny son of one of my own employees didn’t make it.” Her eyes filled with determination. “No one at Larimar Springs let this happen. And now it’s my job to make sure these victims have all their medical expenses paid, while keeping the company financially viable so the people employed by my company remain financially secure.”

Juliet frowned. The spiel sounded oddly familiar.

Attorneys sitting in the room with her furiously scribbled notes in their leather portfolios. One tapped out a text on his phone.

On the big monitor, Alexa tucked her hair behind her ear. And that was when Juliet’s breath caught. She leaned forward and stared, heat surging through her body.

Hanging at Alexa’s ear was a gold earring.

The same earrings she’d seen on Greer Latham’s bathroom counter.