The Negotiation
The next morning, Martha and I sat in her office reviewing the company’s settlement offer. The figure on the paper made my hands shake – more money than I’d seen in my entire 15-year career at Midwest Mutual. But Martha wasn’t impressed.
‘We’re countering,’ she said firmly, sliding a yellow legal pad toward me with an even higher number scrawled on it. ‘Plus full pension reinstatement AND a formal acknowledgment of wrongdoing.’ I nearly choked on my coffee.
‘Will they actually agree to that?’ Martha’s eyes narrowed as she typed furiously. ‘The money? Yes. The pension? Probably. The admission of fault?’ She paused, looking up at me. ‘That’s where they’ll fight hardest.’ She was right.
Two days later, their lawyer called with their response: they’d increase the financial offer by another 15% and reinstate my pension with back payments, but they ‘categorically refused’ to admit any wrongdoing on paper.
‘It’s standard corporate practice,’ Martha explained, squeezing my hand. ‘Admitting fault opens them up to other lawsuits.’ I sat quietly, thinking about what I truly needed to move forward.
The money would change my life, yes. But was forcing them to say the words ‘we were wrong’ worth potentially losing everything else? I looked at Martha, suddenly clear about what mattered most to me.
‘I don’t need them to grovel on paper,’ I said finally. ‘I need them to never do this to anyone else.’ Martha’s smile slowly spread across her face. ‘Now THAT,’ she said, ‘is something we can definitely negotiate.
‘