Bai Duanduan had a good nightâs sleep and went to the office in full spirit the next day.
Although the results of Xu Zhixinâs case were not satisfactory, at least she had done her best to fight for it even when Xu Zhixin concealed the truth. If Jiang Guang Electronics had changed to some other lawyers, then in that situation she was sure that this case would be won by herself but she eventually lost. Although she was totally unwilling to give in to Ji Linâs way of dealing, Bai Duanduan was convinced by the loss.
After this temporary emergency case was over, she had another mass layoff case lined up against Ji Lin. Ji Lin was the representing lawyer of a paper manufacturing company called Simon Paper.
That year, due to the increase in labor costs in City A, the stricter environmental protection regulations, the increase in paper production costs and the irregular power restrictions caused due to scarcity of resources. In the global layout, the company eventually decided to withdraw some of its production lines from the Chinese market, and relocate its three production lines to Mexico. As a result, the relocation of these three production lines will directly lead to the lay-off of 300 workers.
Bai Duanduan was the representative lawyer of 300 employees. Each employee had joined the company at different times of the year and had a different contract version. Therefore, once the company dismisses an employee, the compensation plan and economic compensation involved are very different, and they need to be tailored one by one as per each case. In fact, it was a case involving a huge workload.
In the morning, after having a few phone calls with the employee representatives to communicate about the negotiation strategy, Bai Duanduan was ready to start checking the compensation package for each employee one by one.
Itâs just that she happened to press the calculator, when she heard a commotion in the main office area. After a while, seven or eight people came in one after another, either carrying a camera or holding a lighting tool. It was obviously a recording team.
âDear lawyers and teachers, please cooperate with each of us to shoot a Vlog. You can talk about your usual work preferably on topics such as, what odd or wonderful client you dealt with or What tricky cases you have encountered. We will edit and broadcast it later. The publicity effect will be very goodâ¦â
Bai Duanduan was interrupted in her work and frowned, so she poked Zhang Junda who was sitting next to her, âWhatâs going on?â
Zhang Junda lowered his voice, âPartner Lin Hui signed up for a variety show called âLegal and Political Career Dreamâ. In the upcoming days, this recording team will be stationed with us for a few months to shoot our work status.â
Bai Duanduanâs face was incomprehensible, âWhat is there to film about our workplace status? Most of the time weâre just working on the desk, plus communicating with clients on the phone, and weâre very professional. To be honest, who watches these kinds of shows? How many ratings does this thing have?â
âNo, this has a script.â Zhang Junda winked at Bai Duanduan, âYou hadnât returned from B City at that time, so you donât know. All of us have a script. What to say and do in front of the camera, all the general directions are specified for you, including hiring someone to play a client and tearing up and arguing with us. The script was written with quite a lot of ups and downs. I think if this was recorded and broadcasted, the ratings would not be bad. Lin Hui said that it could bring a wave of popularity and fame to our law firm. After that, he seemed to have contacted a crew to shoot legal dramas. They said that they would come to us for filming. They are all first-line celebrities and the show will definitely explodeâ¦â
Zhang Junda was still enthusiastically speaking, however Bai Duanduan could not listen to any more.
In fact, since a year ago, she has quite disagreed with some of Lin Huiâs decisions. The law firm was a very serious workplace, especially because it involved a large amount of private information of the parties. The confidentiality had to be very strongly maintained, so it was not suitable for such a large scale shooting and filming. ;
Luckily, since Bai Duanduan had just returned to headquarters in A City, there was obviously no part for her in the script, so she chose not to see it. She simply puts on her headphones and starts processing her work. Fortunately, after a short while, the recording team had finally collected the material for the day and left ZhaoHui office.
It was just not long after it had been quiet that the office began to be noisy again. Bai Duanduan wanted to concentrate on her work, but was interrupted by a loud shrill sharp cry.
âYou are not a lawyer at all, it is a complete fraud! Itâs deception!â The owner of the voice was a middle-aged woman in her forties, wearing a cheap coat, her face was pale, her eyes were red and swollen, covered with tears, and she was holding a pile of documents in her hand, looking very emotional and desperate.
Opposite to her stood the exquisitely dressed Du Xinyi, who was calm compared to her opponentâs breakdown that she simply stepped back in disgust, âAuntie, you are sick, arenât you? I didnât give you the verdict, did I? It was handed down by the court. If you want to make a scene, go to the judge, whatâs it to do with me?â
Lin Hui was not at the Firm, so she didnât even bother to pretend.
Bai Duanduan pulled Zhang Junda near her and whispered, âWhatâs the matter? This woman is Du Xinyiâs client? Didnât get the ideal judgment?â
âNo.â Zhang Junda whispered back, âShe is the employee whom Du Xinyiâs client wants to fire. Du Xinyi is the agent of the company, and the woman is the employee who was fired.â
Bai Duanduan was still unclear, but soon, she knew what was going on.
The middle-aged womanâs voice almost tore at her heart, âIâm just a woman with little education, so of course I canât fight someone with knowledge like you, but is this how you lawyers, who are more educated than us, bully people? You were the one who said that the company had no choice but to lay off its staff, so you negotiated with me nicely and said that you would give me financial compensation in a good amount, and made me promised that I should sign the consensus termination of my employment contract next week, but it turned out that this was all a trap!â
âYou also made it clear that in view of the companyâs layoffs, I would be paid my salary this month and my social security and provident fund would be paid as usual. You said I can submit my resume first to another company, or I can go to an interview at any time during this month without having to report to the company, so as to facilitate my finding a new job, which was also considered as the companyâs compensation and consideration for me. Later you slandered me in the court by saying that these three days were unexcused absences and that I had committed a serious disciplinary offense, so the company could unilaterally terminate my contract without paying me the rest of the financial compensation! But I didnât break the rules at all! You told me that I could go for an interview at any time during the month!â
Du Xinyi didnât care about the other partyâs accusation. She sneered and said with an arrogant look, âOh? Did I say that? Auntie, donât you know that you need evidence to support your accusations? Just because you say that does it mean I have really said it? If you have the guts, show me the evidence. If you donât have evidence, what nonsense are you talking about here?â
This middle-aged woman was angry and resentful, âYou woman, you are really evil! This is simply a scam! You all spoke to me face to face, how would an ordinary little citizen like me think of recording all my conversations with you? I thought the company was really humane, but I didnât realize that you had simply set it up!â
âThe law clearly states that your absenteeism is absenteeism. If the company is still paying your wages this month, then you are still an employee of the company this month. If you do not come to work, of course, you have to fulfill the companyâs leave request process. Who gave you the courage to let you talk to yourself and not come?â Du Xinyi ruffled her long hair, âYou donât study the law yourself, but if you are absent from work without any prior notice it is counted as a breach of contract, and the company has the right to fire you. Is the courtâs judgment wrong?â
âThe courtâs judgment is right, but you deceived people like this. Wonât your conscience be uneasy?!â The middle-aged woman couldnât care less about her manners at this moment, her tears kept falling, âMy family is only supported by my salary, are you a human being? You are a vicious woman, are you not afraid of retribution andâ¦â¦â
Unfortunately, she didnât have a chance to finish her complaint. Soon, the security guard of the office property came, and immediately dragged the middle-aged woman away, and the large office area regained its calmness.
However, Bai Duanduanâs heart was not very calm. Du Xinyiâs operation was not uncommon in labor disputes. A soldier was never tired of treachery. In order to reduce costs and layoffs, it can be said that everything can be done. Lawyers provide this kind of layoff plan for the company. It was also normal. But Bai Duanduan has always disdained to win cases by bullying the weak and taking advantage of the other partyâs complete ignorance of legal traps.
Itâs too much like fraud, too invincible, and too lacking in the spirit of contract.