Chapter Class Action with Wilderness Outreach
Daphne strode through the main doors of the incubator. They owned a renovated older building near the bay.
Exposed brick, metal, and glass met them as they moved up to the main desk.
It seemed almost like a campus in the incubator. There were people from start-ups that were located within, other business people coming and going. Meetings were taking place in comfortable chairs, offices, and meeting rooms, or at the two cafeterias. At the main desk, people were guiding new arrivals and passing out information.
Reggie was a half-step behind her as she made it to the front desk.
“Hello. How can I help you?” the woman at the desk asked.
“Hello. I am here for a meeting. My name is Daphne Thomas.” Daphne smiled.
“Right. Who are you meeting with?” the secretary asked.
“James Waters,” Daphne said.
The secretary looked up and examined her closer and then turned back to her screen. A lot of people wanted to see Mister Waters but he had limited time as he was always involved in different projects. He mostly did emails; face-to-face meetings were rare.
Daphne had found this out from Reggie. She had been focused on the case, letting Reggie gather all the extra information that they might require.
“I have your appointment here. If you go up to the fifth floor and go to the secretary there, she will be able to guide you to the meeting room.” The secretary smiled as she confirmed the meeting.
“Thank you.” Daphne walked past, with Reggie taking in the office space. It was comfortable and warm. There was an edible wall with the cafeterias underneath declaring that all of their products were locally sourced.
The Wilderness Outreach Incubators didn’t just fund environment start-ups; they operated how they wanted to change things. The building was reclaimed, their food naturally sourced, their power coming from a mix of solar and wind systems they had added or paid a solar company so that their energy all technically came from a solar source instead of power plants.
They took the elevator to the fifth floor and stepped out. They were met with another desk.
“Miss Thomas?” the secretary asked.
“Yes?” Daphne smiled and walked up to the table.
“Come with me. Dom should be in the meeting room already.” The secretary guided them past the desk, entering an office with staff having meetings with different start-ups and others answering emails or calls.
There were more drinking coffee and talking about projects.
The secretary opened the meeting room’s door. A slim man sat, talking on his phone. He looked up as the door opened and smiled as he saw Daphne and Reggie, putting his phone away.
“Hello! Please come in, I’m Dom.” He offered his hand.
“Daphne.” She shook his hand as he moved to Reggie.
“Reggie.” He smiled.
“Good to meet you both. Please, take a seat. Don’t worry, James will be here in a few moments.” Dom indicated the seats. “Thanks, Karen!” he yelled to the retreating secretary.
“No problem, Dom.” She flashed him a smile.
Daphne settled into her seat and pulled out her files. She started to organize them as Reggie sat next to her, pulling out a pen and paper, ready to take notes if needed.
“Hello, everyone. Sorry I’m late, was just talking to my daughter.” A man walked in the room.
Daphne looked up, her brows furrowed. She knew that voice. “I’m James Waters. I’m in charge of the Wilderness Outreach Incubator.”
It’s him! Daphne’s eyes went wide as James, that James, looked around with that smile that seemed to lighten one’s spirits.
His eyes found hers and he frowned, looking her over before he cleared his throat, hiding his expression. “All right, let’s get down to it.” He quickly took his seat.
Daphne lowered her head. Shit, this is the biggest contract we’ve ever seen and he’s that James. Shit. Daphne couldn’t help but curse as she sent furtive glances at James. She noticed him looking over at her and then his eyes sliding away. His smile seemed to have dulled.
Dom cleared his throat. “This is a class action lawsuit against the Mera Corporation. Several families have come forward complaining about their practices, citing that they have constant aches and pains, as well as other health issues. Originally we had asked them to gather more concrete data. Now we have it.” Dom looked down at the piece of paper in front of him. “The small community runs off of wells. Heavy metals have been recorded in the drinking water and the air contains contaminants. We’ve advised them to keep logs of the amounts of heavy metals in their water and the air and have sent them more testing kits.
“It is believed that this source of heavy metals and contaminants comes from the processing plant located near their community.
“The community wants to fight the Mera Corporation, but they do not have the funds or means to do so and they have come asking for assistance. The Wilderness Outreach Incubator will take on the costs of this case and will be the bridge between the legal team and the people in the community. They will earn ten percent of the lawsuit if it is carried through; otherwise, they will foot the bill for the legal case, unless there is reasonable grounds for them to not continue pursuing this case.”
“Today, we want to hear from you and see what you have so far.” James looked at Daphne and her secretary, Reggie.
Daphne cleared her throat as she looked over the summary that she had put together, drawing on her years of experience to stay neutral, even when seeing James.
“Thomas and Santiago LLC has looked into the case. The information is good enough to spike interest, but it isn’t good enough for us to fully press charges against the Mera Corporation. We would advise medical tests on those who are affected. If they have medical tests in the past, then seeing their records would strengthen our case. We do advise that this case shouldn’t be quick. The Mera Corporation is a large company. They have the money to draw this case out for a long time and spend your money. The best move would be to bring this to a criminal case of neglect and immediate health concern instead of an environmental case, at first,” Daphne said.
“Why?” James asked.
“Sadly, people’s health is a hotter topic than the environment, and the government’s new stance on bringing clean water to remote groups means that they will want to push this through if we can make a big enough deal out of it. It puts them in a good light—helping people who don’t have clean water and stopping an environmental concern in one shot,” Daphne said.
Dom and James shared a look. The two only needed a few glances to communicate to each other.
James was the one to speak up. He gave them a weak smile, one Daphne couldn’t read anything from. “Thank you for this presentation. As you probably know, we are looking at different firms to work with on this case. We will have an answer as to which firm we will give this case to within the week, if that’s okay?”
“That’s fine,” Reggie said as Daphne paused for too long.
“Thanks. Feel free to grab something to eat and we hope you have a great day.” James stood.
Reggie and Dom sensed the odd atmosphere but they chose to ignore it for the meeting.
“We have these files here for reference as well.” Reggie pulled out a group of files as everyone stood up.
“Thanks. I’ll take those.” Dom smiled.
Daphne didn’t know what to do. She had been in hundreds of meetings like this—they were simple—but she didn’t know what to say with James, the James, right there.
James opened the door for them. “Have a good day.”
Daphne nodded her head, her smile barely existent. “Thank you.” She left the meeting room and walked off.
Reggie smiled at the two others and moved to follow Daphne.
As the meeting room door closed behind them, James and Dom started talking to each other immediately but the walls made it impossible for Reggie and Daphne to hear them.
“What the hell was that?” Reggie asked Daphne in hushed tones as they got to the elevator lobby.
“That was the James,” Daphne said in a hiss, starting to feel a building headache. “I thought that he was an engineer!”
“He is, or was, an engineer but he turned his pursuits toward building green homes, made some new cleaner and easier insulation. That’s the seed money he used to get this incubator running,” Reggie said. “Wait, you said the James—as in paddle board and camper James?” Reggie hissed.
Daphne just looked at Reggie.
“Fuck.” Reggie pinched the top of his nose.
“Yeah.” She sighed and walked into the elevator.
The doors closed.
“If we get this job, I don’t know if it’s because he likes me or wants us to win. If he doesn’t, then I don’t know either,” Daphne said, letting it all out to Reggie.
“Do you still like him?”
“I...I don’t know, Reggie. I met him at a campground in British Columbia on the other side of Canada,” Daphne said.
“Well, at least he’s good-looking, if you’re looking for that whole lumberjack thing,” Reggie said in a light voice.
“I thought you were into lumberjacks?”
“Please. That was in the summer. Now I’m into skiers—got better technique.” Reggie winked.
Daphne laughed, letting out her stress as everything seemed a bit easier. If they didn’t get the contract, they could get others in the future. It would be okay.
“Thanks,” she said, feeling relieved with Reggie’s joke letting her take a step back.
“That’s what I’m here for, girl. How about we go and get some wine? Brothers Food and Wine?”
“You read my mind.” Daphne had been working nonstop. Seeing James had brought up a lot and she felt now that all of her time was wasted.
***
James and Dom were now in the cafeteria. He sat back in his chair, nursing a glass of water.
Dom looked up at the ceiling. “All right, so, something went on but you don’t want to talk about it, and you want Lucy and me to make the decision?”
“Yes.” James trusted Dom and Lucy completely and he knew that they would do the best for the case. He was just a bit too close to this to make the decision himself.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do with you. All right, I’ll tell her and we’ll look into it. Now that we have all of the information from the different legal offices, it shouldn’t take more than a day before we make a decision.”
“Sounds good,” James said. “Thanks, Dom.”
“You better tell me afterward what the heck this is about.”
“I will.” James had told Dom about Daphne, but he hadn’t made the connection yet. He hoped that Lucy didn’t. She was much sharper when it came to relationship things.