IGTL Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – A Content-Certified Letter Arrived, and Amazing Corporation’s President Flew Into a Rage (1)

Meanwhile, around that time, at Takahashi Kakeru’s former workplace, Amazing Corporation…

“W-What the hell is this?!”

This was the president’s office of Amazing Corporation, a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Second Section and set to celebrate its 100th anniversary that year.

Inside the office, President Nishiki was crushing a piece of content-certified mail from a lawyer into a wrinkled wad in his fist, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Ishida! Is Ishida here?!”

President Nishiki roared on pure anger and summoned Director Ishida of the Administration Division.

“Y-You called for me, President?”

“Yeah, Ishida. Have a seat.”

With that, President Nishiki made Director Ishida sit on the sofa. Then he tossed the content-certified letter he had crumpled up right in front of Ishida, put his feet up on the desk, and began speaking with a revoltingly bad attitude.

“Ishida. You read that scrap of paper the lawyer sent. What do you think?”

“A-A scrap of paper… Let me take a look.”

Director Ishida said that and read through the content-certified letter President Nishiki had thrown down.

“Th-This is…”

“Yeah… That Takahashi kid who quit the other day is suing the company. This is serious. He used to be your subordinate, didn’t he? Can’t you do something about it?!”

“I-I mean, even if you tell me to do something…”

The content-certified letter stated that Takahashi was demanding his estimated unpaid overtime for three years. It also included 500,000 yen in retirement pay he should have received when he resigned, and 1,000,000 yen in consolation money for wrongful dismissal. Total demand: 10,000,000 yen. It further stated that if they did not pay, he would not hesitate to take it to court…

“What are you taking your sweet time for?! That man Takahashi is outrageous! From what you told me, he skipped work, spread nasty rumors about his coworkers, and then committed a robbery-assault incident against high school students, so he was dismissed for cause, wasn’t he?! And now he’s demanding ten million yen? Don’t screw with me!”

“President, this must be some kind of mistake. I suspect Takahashi fed his lawyer a pack of lies to make things go his way. I’ll confirm the facts immediately, so please wait just a little.”

“Confirm it right now! Seriously, that Takahashi guy is unbelievable. Even though he worked for our company, he still pulls something like this…”

“Yes, truly. President, if you’ll excuse me…”

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

After answering President Nishiki, Director Ishida arranged a hired car through a Nihon Kotsu dispatch service and headed to their legal counsel, the Noume Legal Consultation Office.

◇◆◆

On the way to the Noume Legal Consultation Office in the hired car, he called the former employee, Takahashi Kakeru.

“…Not connecting? What the hell did Takahashi do?!”

At that moment, Takahashi Kakeru had set Director Ishida’s number, along with every phone number belonging to Amazing Corporation, to reject incoming calls.

Because of that, no matter how many times they called, it would not connect.

Not knowing this, Director Ishida kept calling Takahashi Kakeru again and again. But of course, the calls did not go through.

“Unbelievable! You’ve got no common sense! As a member of society, you’re supposed to make sure you can be reached anytime, in case something happens at the company!”

While he was fuming like that, they arrived at the Noume Legal Consultation Office. Carrying his anger toward Takahashi in his chest, Director Ishida got out of the hired car and headed in, only to run right into Noume Hachiya.

“Ah, it’s been a while. Noume-sensei. I’m Ishida from Amazing Corporation.”

“Ah, Mr. Ishida. What brings you here today?”

“Well, I wanted to consult you… A former employee who quit sent us something like this…”

When he showed the content-certified letter, Noume Hachiya’s complexion changed.

“A content-certified letter from a former employee, is it? Let’s discuss the details inside. Please, come in.”

Director Ishida went inside and, following the guidance, dropped heavily onto the sofa. Then Noume Hachiya asked to examine the content-certified letter.

After Ishida handed it over and explained his understanding of the situation, Noume Hachiya’s expression turned grim.

“This is bad…”

“B-Bad? What do you mean…?”

“To be frank, I have other involvement with this person in a separate matter.”

“A separate matter? Are you handling another lawsuit involving Takahashi?”

When Ishida asked that, Noume Hachiya fell silent.

“…I’m sorry, but I cannot discuss the details. The problem is that he has retained counsel and is preparing to file an unpaid overtime lawsuit. Is it true that he skipped work, spread malicious rumors about his colleagues, and ultimately caused a robbery-assault incident involving high school students, leading to his dismissal for cause?”

“Yes, of course. That’s true. That’s my understanding!”

When Ishida answered confidently, Noume Hachiya put a hand to his eyes. What was wrong?

“Noume-sensei… Are you all right?”

“Y-Yes, just a bit dizzy… More importantly, let me confirm one more time. Mr. Takahashi Kakeru definitely committed a robbery-assault incident, correct? Answer honestly, with no lies.”

“Yes. I was contacted directly by the high school student involved. There’s no mistake.”

At that, Noume Hachiya stared upward, as if he needed the ceiling to hold his sanity in place.

“I see. A call from a high school student… Let me tell you up front: that is incorrect. Mr. Takahashi Kakeru is connected to the incident, but he is not the perpetrator. If anything, he is the victim.”

“W-What?! Th-That’s a problem! I already told President Nishiki we dismissed him for cause because he committed a robbery-assault incident!?”

At this point, Ishida could not tell that hot-tempered President Nishiki. There was no way he could.

“Why would you do that…? Did you confirm it with him directly?”

“I-I didn’t, that’s…”

“Then you should inform the president of the truth, even now. If you dismissed him for cause on that basis, then if it goes to trial, you will definitely lose.”

“B-But that’s what lawyers are for. Can’t you do something about it?”

“…I will do what I can, but I suspect it will be difficult.”

“W-Why?”

With a sigh, Noume Hachiya pointed at the crumpled content-certified letter.

“This lawyer, Dekisugi, is famous for being strong in labor litigation. We won’t know about the overtime portion until we examine the records, but as for the other amounts, he is demanding figures that are generally reasonable.”

“S-So there’s room to reduce the overtime portion, then?”

“Yes. However, once you factor in the legal fees you would pay me, as well as investigation costs, I believe it may be better to pay the demanded amount as is…”

That was true. Attorney fees were expensive.

The retainer he quoted was 590,000 yen, and the success fee was 1,180,000 yen.

Both were before tax, and once converted to tax-included amounts, they would have to pay nearly two million yen in attorney fees alone.

“We’ll review this internally as soon as possible…”

“Yes. Please do.”

After leaving the Noume Legal Consultation Office, Ishida climbed into the hired car, took out his smartphone, and called President Nishiki to provide a routine status report.

After a few seconds of electronic tones, President Nishiki answered.

“This is Nishiki.”

“Thank you for your hard work. This is Ishida from Administration. I just left the lawyer’s office.”

“…So? What did Attorney Noume say?”

“W-Well… Actually…”

When Ishida explained what he had discussed with Noume Hachiya, President Nishiki exploded.

“That’s why you’re useless! Your reporting is a mess! ‘Actually he didn’t commit any crime’? ‘Dismissing him for cause was the company’s fault’? What are you even saying?! Don’t be ridiculous!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry!”

He apologized on reflex, but once President Nishiki started raging, he did not stop.

“Seriously, you! What did you even go to the Noume Legal Consultation Office for?! Listen. You dismissed an employee based on your own assumptions and caused massive damage to the company! That’s an outrageous breach of trust!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry!”

“Enough with that. Do you even understand what you did?!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry!”

Even after saying “I’m terribly sorry” this many times, President Nishiki’s anger still did not cool.

“I’m asking if you understand!”

“I understand. I understand, so… We can discuss this after I arrive back at the company…”

“What did you just say?! ‘I understand. I understand, so’? Don’t screw with me! That’s enough! I’m done!”

The call abruptly cut off. President Nishiki had probably slammed his smartphone down in rage.

Ishida put his smartphone back into his pocket and sighed. Dealing with President Nishiki was exhausting.

The president had said he wanted to improve performance and raise executive compensation, and asked if there was anyone in administration they could cut. That was why Ishida reviewed the admin division and carried out a mass layoff of employees he believed they could dismiss without trouble, and yet…

Still, if he wanted to move up, currying favor with President Nishiki was indispensable.

Recently, his gout had been making his foot and knee ache, and the doctor had told him to cut back on alcohol, but it could not be helped…

Muttering that to himself, Ishida pulled his smartphone out again, checked President Nishiki’s schedule, and decided to book a business dinner.

Recently, President Nishiki had been obsessed with Sichuan cuisine. A place like Sichuan Hanten near Amazing Corporation would be perfect.

“Hello. This is Ishida from Amazing Corporation. I’d like a reservation for two at seven p.m. today. Yes, that spacious private room in the back you have. Could you book that room? …A receipt? Yes, like always, make it out to ‘Amazing Corporation’… All right. Yes. Yes.”

After booking Sichuan Hanten, Ishida instructed the hired-car driver to head to a famous department store nearby.

If you wanted to get on President Nishiki’s good side, bringing a gift was the best approach. And the receipt was going to be made out to Amazing Corporation anyway. It would not cost Ishida a single yen out of pocket.

“All right, Driver. Hurry it up. And the receipt, like always, make it out to ‘Amazing Corporation.’”

With that, Ishida bought a gift for President Nishiki at the well-known department store, then returned to Amazing Corporation’s head office.

When he got back, the president’s office seemed oddly noisy. The president was probably raising hell about something again. It was the usual routine.

He tried to return to his desk without being noticed, but just then, Tanaka, a subordinate who had come out of the president’s office, called out to him.

“Director Ishida. The president is calling for you.”

“President Nishiki? Understood.”

When Ishida checked the clock, it displayed 6:00 p.m.

“Tanaka. If I’m not back by six thirty, cancel the reservation at Sichuan Hanten that I made today.”

“Understood.”

After giving that instruction, Ishida dragged his gout-stricken leg and headed into the president’s office.

“President. Excuse me.”

“Ishida. I’ve been waiting. Sit down there first.”

“Yes. Excuse me.”

As he sat on the sofa and studied the president’s expression, President Nishiki looked downright furious. Had something happened again?

In the president’s office sat Sato, Takahashi’s former supervisor, the head of the Accounting Department.