"Mr. Jones, I am sorry to inform you that you have been expelled." In a small conference room, there was a long circular wooden table. Ethan Jones's back was facing the glass partition blocked by blinds, and in front of him sat a man and a woman in suits.
Although the blond lady who spoke looked apologetic, her green eyes contained no emotion.
Ethan Jones nodded, accepting the fact, "Okay, I understand." "So, what about compensation?" he asked.
"Compensation?" The blond woman raised her slender eyebrows.
Turning to look at his companion, the man next to him immediately laughed.
The index finger tapped on the table, making a 'dong dong dong' sound.At the same time, he also raised his voice, "Mr. Jones, I think you may not understand the current situation." The man shook the document in his hand and said, "The reason why we fired you is because you have brought huge benefits to the company." economic loss."
"On the eve of our company's Odyssey new product launch conference, you sent an invitation letter to Nolan Bushnell, which directly caused the other party to plagiarize our company's work and made us lose this book." It should belong to our market, and in this case, it is already a kindness for the company not to hold you accountable, and you want compensation?" "Do you think this is Washington? I have a dream?Slightly The teasing tone made Ethan Jones smile."Okay, Okay."
He raised his hands and pressed down slightly, signaling the other party to calm down.
With his movements, the sleeves of the white shirt also protruded from the cuffs of the suit.
"Sir, I respect your right to speak, but before you speak, please clarify one thing."
Ethan Jones said with a smile: "You, like me, are employees of this company, our biggest The difference is that I'm in the marketing department and you are in the human resources department." "
So, please don't treat this place as your own home?"
Ethan Jones stared at the man with burning eyes.
Hearing the sarcastic words, the face of the other party changed.
Before the man could express anything, Ethan Jones had already looked away from him.
He looked at the woman who spoke first, and said: "Since the company asked you to fire me, let's be honest, although California is an 'at-will' state, any company can fire me at any time for any reason or for no reason. Directly terminate the employment relationship between the company and the employees, but this does not mean that you can fire me indiscriminately." "
I admit that I sent Nolan Bushnell to our company on the eve of the Odyssey product launch. The invitation letter for the new product launch, but this is not my decision, but the decision of the company's marketing department, and at that time, the core appeal of our entire marketing department was to promote the company's products to the public." "The so-called plagiarism is just
an accident, an accident that no one wants to see."
"You can't use such an excuse to deny me the compensation I deserve."
Ethan Jones' tone was calm, and there was even a smile on the corner of his mouth when he spoke.
But that gentle appearance made the woman who was looking at him purse her lips.
At this moment, she only felt that the guy in front of her was very difficult to deal with.
As the HR of this company, after going to work in the morning, the first job they received was to fire Ethan Jones.
They thought that this was an easy job, because the notorious deeds of Ethan Jones had been spread in the company for a long time, but the original boss was kind and didn't bother him.But no one thought that when they really started talking, this guy was as smelly and hard as those rednecks!Glancing at her companion, the angry look of the other party made the woman put away her communication thoughts, and said directly: "Oh, Mr. Jones, I understand your mood at the moment, and I can even understand your starting point when you speak. Everyone has self-protection When you encounter trouble, you will always seek results in a good direction, but this is not a reason for you to make trouble." "Do you think that if you have no fault, you really have no fault?"
"No."
" If the company wants to hold you accountable, you can't escape no matter what..."
"Then sue me directly!"
Before the woman could finish speaking, Ethan Jones spoke.
"What?"
The blond woman thought she had heard wrong.
Ethan Jones, on the other hand, leaned back, spread his hands, and raised his legs.
His face was full of ridicule, "I said -" he lengthened his voice, "Since you keep saying that I have brought huge losses to the company, then be happy and go directly to the court to sue. Me!"
"Just in time, I also want to stand in court and tell the judge about your illegal dismissal!" "Do you really think I don't know why I was fired? It's just that the company has a new boss."
" The management hopes that by clearing out old employees, the company can quickly gain book profits to reflect its own value." "
There is nothing wrong with this kind of behavior, or in other words, many companies do this, but they will not agree with you. Same, try to save employees severance expenses, because this is illegal." "
California's Employee Employment Act stipulates that all companies must notify employees in advance before laying off employees, and must pay compensation based on the employee's working time. , if you even want to save these, then I can only seek help from the labor union. I think the workers' union where I belong will like my complaint very much." "After all, the current boss of our company is
... "
Philips from the Netherlands?"
Having said that, Ethan Jones paused for a moment, raised the corners of his mouth, and smiled confidently at the two of them.
"When Japan's auto industry had a huge impact on us in America, can I think that your dismissal of me is a capital invasion led by Philips in the Netherlands? If not, can you explain your current behavior? "
"When I told the media the fact that I was laid off and couldn't get compensation, would they think that foreign capital was running rampant? They didn't seem to be prepared to abide by our American laws? After all, you are clearly breaking the law now. "
"If you still want to deny all this, then I can understand that this is the company's deliberate exploitation and oppression of laborers like me?" "If this is the case, then I have to report The American Legal Services Company, which was just established last year, applied for assistance, or do you still want me to send a letter of appeal to affirmative action organizations in San Francisco? Tell them that I feel discriminated against here?" Ethan sat up straight I straightened my suit collar, and then continued: "Although I am a biological white man, I respect human beings of all skin colors and their right to speak." "All men are created equal!"
"..."
The continuous words made the faces of the man and woman twitch.
And when the declaration that 'all men are created equal' appeared, the man who made fun of Dr. King frowned even more.
Although Ethan Jones did not vent his anger hoarsely, his calm tone was even more frightening.
They stared at Ethan Jones for a long time, and finally chose to give in.
"Okay, Okay, Okay, Mr. Jones, please calm down, we just made a joke for you." The blond woman brushed her hair by her ear.
Then he counted: "You have worked in the company for three years. According to the company's compensation plan, we will compensate you for four months' wages, and your weekly salary is eighty dollars, so you can get 1,280 dollars..."
" I want the highest standard of 2N+1." Ethan Jones interrupted.
The blonde woman took a breath and was silent for two seconds. After seeing Ethan Jones's unusual insistence, she still agreed to the plan.
"Okay, 2N+1, that's seven months' salary, which is $2,240."
"And my salary for this week." Ethan Jones continued to remind.
"You won't be missed!"
The man wrote a note to Ethan Jones with a gloomy expression, "Go to the finance department to get the check!" "Thank you." Ethan Jones accepted it with a smile, not caring about the other party's bad attitude .
However, when leaving the meeting room, he still turned around and added, "Sir, there is something I want to reiterate." "
This is not your home, and what I take is not your money."
"So, please be happy. A little."
"Oh! Shit!" The man couldn't bear the sarcasm one after another.
He wanted to yell.
"Bang!"
But the only response to him was the closed door.
Looking at the shadow passing under the blinds, the man angrily threw the documents on the table.
The sharp voice faintly penetrated into Ethan Jones' ears, but he ignored it Instead, he smiled and nodded to his former colleagues outside, and walked towards the company's finance department in a smart way.
With the dismissal note issued by the Human Resources Department, I received my compensation.
After that, he left the company directly.
As soon as he stepped out, he was greeted by the warm sunshine of California in April.
The golden light made Ethan Jones narrow his eyes.
Looking back, the door with its back to the east made the company logo hidden in the shadows very clear -
Magnavox.
Note: ① Odyssey: The world's first commercial home game console, born in 1972. ②Nolan Bushnell: The founder of Atari, created the era of electronic arcades. ③at-will: at-will employment, the employment can be terminated at will, unless there is a contract or other written agreement, the employment relationship between the employer and the worker is basically based on their own free will. ④America Legal Services Corporation: This is a national legal aid organization established by the US Senate. ⑤Magnavox: Miravox, an American electronics company, released the world's first commercial home game console. Excluding the game console, it is also a very good company. It was as famous as Polaroid in the 1960s.
(end of this chapter)