บท 1: Chapter 1: Termination
"Mr. Jones, I regret to inform you that you have been terminated."
In a not-so-spacious conference room, a curved rectangular wooden table was placed. Ethan Jones faced away from the glass partition covered by blinds, and in front of him sat a man and a woman in suits.
The blonde woman speaking wore a apologetic expression, but her emerald eyes betrayed no emotion.
Ethan Jones nodded, accepting the reality. "Alright, I understand."
"Well, what about compensation?" he inquired.
"Compensation?" The blonde woman raised a slender eyebrow.
Glancing at her companion, the man beside her burst into laughter.
Index finger tapping on the table, producing a 'thud thud thud' sound.
Simultaneously, he raised his voice, "Mr. Jones, I think you might not have grasped the current situation." He shook the file in his hand and continued, "We fired you because you caused significant financial losses to the company."
"On the eve of our company's Odyssey product launch event, you sent an invitation to Nolan Bushnell. This action directly led to him plagiarizing our company's work, causing us to lose the market share that rightfully belonged to us. In this situation, the company's decision not to hold you accountable is already an act of kindness. And you still want compensation?"
"Do you think this is Washington? Do I have a dream?"
A slightly mocking tone made Ethan Jones reveal a smile.
"Okay, okay."
He raised both hands slightly, gesturing for them to calm down.
With his movement, the white shirt sleeves emerged from the suit cuffs.
"Sir, I respect your right to speak, but before you speak, please understand one thing."
Ethan Jones smiled and said, "Like you, I am an employee of this company. The only difference is that I work in the marketing department, and you work in human resources."
"So, please don't treat this place as your own home, okay?"
Ethan Jones stared at the man with an intense gaze.
The sarcastic words made the man's expression change.
Before the man could respond, Ethan Jones had already shifted his gaze away from him.
He looked at the woman who spoke first and said, "Since the company decided to terminate me, let's be frank. Although California is an 'at-will' state, where any company can terminate the employment relationship with an employee at any time and for any reason or no reason at all, it doesn't mean you can just fire me recklessly."
"I admit that I sent an invitation to Nolan Bushnell on the eve of the Odyssey product launch event, but it wasn't my decision; it was a decision made by the company's marketing department. At that time, the core focus of our entire marketing department was just to promote the company's products to the public."
"The so-called plagiarism was an accident, something nobody wanted to happen."
"You can't use such excuses to evade the compensation I deserve."
Ethan Jones spoke calmly, and even with a smile on his face.
But his refined appearance made the woman facing him purse her lips.
At this moment, she felt that the guy in front of her was quite difficult to deal with.
As the HR of this company, their first task after starting work that morning was to terminate Ethan Jones.
They thought it would be an easy task because Ethan Jones' notorious deeds had been circulating in the company for a long time, and the previous boss, out of kindness, hadn't bothered with him.
However, they didn't expect that when they really started talking, this guy turned out to be as stubborn as those rednecks, tough and unyielding!
Oh no, it's like those WASPs on the East Coast!
Surface sophistication!
Glancing at her companion, the angry look on his face made the woman abandon her attempt to communicate and directly said, "Oh, Mr. Jones, I understand your current mood and even understand the starting point of your words. Everyone has the instinct to protect themselves. When in trouble, they always try to seek positive outcomes. But this can't be a reason for your unreasonable behavior."
"Do you really think you have no faults?"
"Not really."
"If the company wants to hold you responsible, you won't escape anyway..."
"Then just sue me!"
Before the woman could finish her sentence, Ethan Jones interrupted.
"What?"
The blonde woman thought she had misheard.
Meanwhile, Ethan Jones leaned back, hands outstretched, and crossed his legs.
On his face, there was a hint of mockery. "I said—since you so loudly claim that I caused huge losses to the company, why not go to court and sue me directly!"
"Perfect, 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 because the company got a new owner."
"The management wants to quickly show profits on the books by getting rid of old employees to demonstrate their value."
"This behavior is not a problem, or rather, many companies do the same, but they won't try to save on employee severance pay like you do because that's illegal."
"California's Employment Termination Law specifies that all companies must give advance notice to employees before termination and provide compensation based on the employee's tenure. If you want to save on that, I'll have to seek help from the union. I believe the labor union I belong to will be very interested in my complaint."
"After all, our company's current owner is..."
"Philips from the Netherlands?"
At this point, Ethan Jones paused for a moment, smirked, and confidently looked at the two.
"When the automotive industry in the Midwest is causing a huge impact on our beloved America, can I assume that my dismissal is orchestrated by the capital invasion led by Philips from the Netherlands? If not, can you explain your current actions?"
"When I tell the media about being laid off without compensation, they will think it's the rampant influence of foreign capital, right? It seems you're not ready to comply with the laws of our America. After all, what you're doing now is blatantly illegal."
"If you want to deny all this, can I understand that the company is conspiring to exploit and oppress workers like me?"
"In that case, I'll have to apply for assistance from the newly established American Legal Services Company, or maybe you would like me to send a letter to the Equal Rights Organization in San Francisco? Tell them that I feel discriminated against here?"
At this point, Ethan sat up straight, adjusted his suit collar, and then continued, "Although I am a physiologically white person, I respect all colors of humanity and their right to speak."
"All men are created equal!"
"..."
The continuous stream of words made the faces of the man and woman twitch.
And when the declaration of 'all men are created equal' appeared, the man who had made jokes about Dr. Gold felt a frown on his face.
Although Ethan Jones didn't vent his anger loudly, his calm tone was even more frightening.
After staring at Ethan Jones for a while, they ultimately chose to concede.
"Okay, okay, okay, Mr. Jones, please calm down. We were just playing a joke on you." The blonde woman flicked her hair behind her ear.
She continued, "You've worked for the company for three years. According to the company's compensation plan, we will compensate you for four months' salary, and your weekly salary is $80, so you will receive $1280..."
"I want the highest standard, 2N+1." Ethan Jones interrupted.
The blonde woman hesitated for a breath, remained silent for two seconds, and seeing Ethan Jones' unwavering insistence, she agreed to this arrangement.
"Fine, 2N+1, which is seven months' salary, amounting to $2240."
"And my salary for this week," Ethan Jones reminded.
"You won't be shortchanged!" The man gave Ethan Jones a grumpy look and handed him a check, "Go to finance to collect it!"
"Thank you." Ethan Jones took it with a smile, not minding the other's unpleasant attitude.
However, as he left the conference room, he turned back to add, "Sir, there's something I want to reiterate."
"This is not your home, and what I'm taking is not your money."
"So, please be happy."
"Oh! Damn!" The consecutive sarcastic remarks made the man unable to hold back.
He wanted to curse loudly.
"Bang!"
But all he got in response was the closed door.
Staring at the shadow passing through the blinds, the man angrily slammed the files on the table.
"Darn it! Doesn't he know how much money we saved for the company in our performance evaluation?!"
The sharp voice faintly drilled into Ethan Jones' ears, but he paid no attention. Instead, he nodded with a smile at his former colleagues outside and walked confidently towards the company's finance department.
With the dismissal letter issued by the HR, he received his compensation.
Afterward, he simply left the company.
As soon as he stepped outside, he was greeted by the warm April sun in California.
The golden radiance made Ethan Jones squint his eyes.
Turning back, the company sign, concealed in the shadow cast by the eastern-facing gate, became clear—
Magnavox.
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