Diana and Albert

I am a lawyer, and in the course of the workplace litigation in which I am engaged, I meet often with the most striking digital communication between colleagues, executives, workers, subordinates, secretaries, and the like. Whether or not corporations and companies should legally be considered persons or entities or partnerships, no one can dispute that within them all are human beings, making the best (or the worst) of the cards life has dealt them before it’s time to “shuffle off this mortal coil.”

The following email correspondence pertains to an allegation of wrongful termination. I publish it here because it seems to show the beginning of, at least, a close friendship, exhibits exceptional acts of generosity, and provides a worthwhile instance of perseverance. Omitted are addresses, identifying information, subject lines and signatures, while the only name transmuted is the executive’s. But the language, the dates, and the times, have not been touched. Five asterisks (*****) separate each email. — The editor

Date: March 4 2026 03:04:34 PM

Diane,

Copy machine’s unjammed now. FYI.

Albert

*****

Date: March 4 2026 03:07:42 PM

Hello Albert,

OK thanks?

Diana

*****

Date: March 4 2026 03:12:02 PM

Diane,

Yes! You’re welcome! :)

Albert

*****

Date: March 4 2026 03:30:01 PM

Albert,

My name is Diana, not Diane? I don’t remember requesting or needing the copy machine lately…

Diana

*****

Date: March 4 2026 03:45:46 PM

Diana,

Oh you’re right!

At first I thought you (Diane, that is) were trying to throw me off for laughs, but looking at the receiver’s email address in my first message, I see I started it with diana not diane.

Yes, typo on my end — apologies! I meant to reach Diane Jackson in Accounts Payable. I’m in Accounting with her. We work on the same floor, and she often asks me to unjam the copy machine that we share because I’ve long since figured out how to do so in under a minute. Removing the jammed paper requires some finesse here, some strength there, which Diane, because of our friendship, relies on me for. I don’t mind in the least because she was incredibly helpful to me when I first started here. Quite striking that you and our colleague share the same first and last name save for one letter. Please excuse the inconvenience and enjoy the rest of your day,

Albert

*****

Date: March 4 2026 03:59:20 PM

Hi Albert,

No problem at all!!

It’s actually crazy. But Jackson is a very common surname, and it wouldn’t be the first time that my first name’s been misspelt or mistaken… I’m so glad to hear that you guys help each other out in Accounting.

I’m at the very top with the officers. Executive assistant to our CFO, Mr Roberts. Over here it’s rather on the lonely side. Just a handful of big wigs and their assistants.

Nice to meet you, Albert, and likewise have a nice afternoon,

Diana

*****

Date: March 5 2026 08:03:46 AM

Diana,

Yes, Diane was real patient with me as I learned the ropes. I had Excel experience as well as with Quickbooks, but there was plenty of other stuff besides to get the hang of and I was always able to reach out to her about it. I’m grateful for her mentorship.

And it’s not exactly a party in Accounting, but because our work is heavy with data entry and number crunching, and because our space is tight and drab, the dozen of us sharing it talk and joke around amongst ourselves on a fairly consistent basis. Partly why I thought you were Diane pretending to be clueless.

Sorry to hear that it’s lonely there! How long have you been in the role? No one cool and friendly close by?

Albert

*****

Date: March 5 2026 09:26:17 AM

Hi Albert,

Ok! It’ll be two years next week with me in this role. I guess not? I mean… I don’t really get a chance to have a good-sized conversation with anyone but Mr Roberts. Funny, I suppose you and I are just in two different kinds of workplaces although we work in the same building. I also didn’t need much help when I started because I had been in quite the same job previously.

In fact, it was my old boss who recommended my skills as an assistant to my current one! Now she was my mentor if I ever had one. She helped me so much over the years. And she wouldn’t move away to California without finding me another executive assistant position. Mr Roberts was an old friend of hers and had exactly such a vacancy.

How did you arrive at your role?

Diana

*****

Date: March 5 2026 11:02:43 AM

Diana,

I arrived at this role also through a connection. — In college, I majored in Journalism, to supplement which and have a more competitive resume, I decided to minor in Finance. The latter required me to take courses that then required me to get good at creating spreadsheets. Good I got. And much better over time, because I learned to make the most of them in many ways, including for journalism. After college, I took all sorts of jobs to stay afloat, all the while writing articles about state and local business as a freelancer.

Some time down the line, I ended up as a barista at a local coffee shop. Then, its owner, because of a set of conversations we had concerning her shop’s revenue, gave me the additional responsibility of doing the numbers for it. That’s where I picked up Quickbooks. After some time, I saw that I had good enough experience for significantly higher pay, and I decided to open up to the coffee shop owner about that. Lucky for me, she was kind in reply, saying she would let her sister-in-law know about me, who was a CPA. Her firm unfortunately was not hiring, but she said one of her clients did need more accounting staff. And that client of hers was [company]! And the rest is history. — Oh no, I gave you my whole life story, didn’t I? :/

Enough about me! How’s work today so far?

Albert

*****

Date: March 5 2026 11:45:46 AM

Hi Albert,

No worries! I enjoyed reading your life story… Deciding to minor in a different field was a smart play. It made you a more competitive job applicant. I think I’ll do that when I go back to college.

I didn’t finish school, but that’s a long story, which I can tell you about on another occasion. Anyway, English was my major, and pursuing something business-like on the side would be helpful. It looks like it helped you out a lot!

Work is fine… Mr Roberts has been having more meetings than usual, both in person and online, probably because it’s tax season and we’re due for a quarterly report. So it’s been busy. I have my coffee, however, and my playlist has been on point all morning, so I’m in a good spot.

By the way, do you know what Mr Roberts, our CFO, looks like?

Diana

*****

Date: March 5 2026 01:14:12 PM

Diana,

Yes, I’d love to hear your story some time! English major, cool. Anything you’re reading right now? I’ve picked up The Hobbit, partly because of longstanding curiosity, partly because the paperback was on sale. I paid two dollars!

Name the last song you listened to, and let me see if I can guess the singer or the band. — Mr Roberts? No idea. Wait! Okay, I’ve searched him up, and I can confirm that I’ve seen him before. I think at the food court? Tall, burly guy, looks somewhat like the king from the movie, The King’s Speech?

Albert

*****

Date: March 5 2026 02:15:12 PM

Hi Albert,

My goodness, he does look like Colin Firth! That’s Mr Roberts. It’s funny you mention that actor, because I’m re-reading “Pride and Prejudice” for the third time, although I’ve only ever seen the Keira Knightly movie version.

Anyway, I asked that to see if you would like to help me with something serious, truly serious, concerning Mr Roberts.

By the way, the last song was “Watermelon Sugar”!

Diana

*****

Date: March 5 2026 02:43:01 PM

Diana,

Confession: I’ve never seen any movie version of Pride and Prejudice.

That’s Harry Styles! Too easy. — Something serious? Oh, I hope you’re okay.

Albert

*****

Date: March 5 2026 03:30:12 PM

Hi Albert,

Oh good job! But you’ve never seen “Pride and Prejudice”? You’re missing out…

Yes, I’m doing ok! The “something” doesn’t involve me directly. In fact, some could say I’m meddling where I shouldn’t. But this is the issue…

For the past month or so, I’ve noticed that Mr Roberts’ breath, and overall odor, to be frank, have carried a heavy splash of alcohol. Least covertly, towards the end of the work week after he comes back from lunch at two. To each their own, I would say but that I know he’s a recovering alcoholic. So it worries me!

My favor to ask of you is whether you could confirm my suspicions. Last Friday, as I exited the parking garage and looked both ways before driving out, I want to say I saw him sitting at the bar through the windows of Cherry’s, the steakhouse across the street. What would you make of passing by there lunchtime tomorrow to see if he’s really back to drinking?

I know it’s a big favor! Because I’ve asked him before about drinking, if I went, he would send me home.

Diana

*****

Date: March 5 2026 04:13:58 PM

Diana,

I could do that. But may I ask why it concerns you so much? He is an older gentleman and a smart, successful professional. It’s possibly nothing? Maybe it’s been a few busy mornings, and a beer or two helps him to relax.

Albert

*****

Date: March 5 2026 06:35:58 PM

Hi Albert,

So let me explain. There are two reasons.

The first is that over the many months that I’ve been his assistant, I’ve gotten to know him and his family well. In fact, I’ve been at their house, invited there on occasion by him or his wife, Mary.

And Mrs Roberts is so kind and sweet. For example, she comes to the office just to bring me slices of pies she has baked at home or plates of special dishes she has cooked. My first year in this position I spent a few hours with them on Christmas Eve. Several members of their extended family were there as well.

At one point during the evening a cousin of theirs (or nephew, I’m not sure which) offered Mr Roberts a drink. I believe it was scotch whiskey. The latter refused, while the former pressed him multiple times, increasingly adding bits of raillery. Mrs Roberts, seeing all of this, stepped up to them and pulled this cousin to the side, and as discreetly as possible (indeed no one noticed but myself) rebuked him, conveying both her disappointment and her sorrow that she could not even depend on family to help her to take care of a man who had battled for so long, with such heart, against drinking himself to death. I was surprised by this piece of news (because at that moment it was news to me). My features must have indicated as much because Mrs Roberts saw me looking at her, and dismissing her family member, who left her much embarrased, with his eyes fixed on the floor, she stepped up to me.

She then admitted and shared with me the full breadth of the matter. Mr Roberts had apparently struggled against alcoholism for the better part of three decades, and been pretty successful except for a handful moments of weakness in the years when their children were children and not the grown-up, working adults they were now. There was much to applaud in respect to the ways in which Mr Roberts had prevailed over his inner demons, and in which their marriage had come out stronger in the end. But the entire ordeal had had, undoubtedly, many troughs in addition to peaks, and therefore Mary could never recount it without a few tears streaming down her cheeks. Her voice faltered with such emotion at that point, and her tears fell so sincerely, that I shed a few tears of my own alongside her. As her narration arrived at its end, I picked up her hand, thanked her for the care and the candor she exercised to tell me about her family’s struggles, and lastly assured her that I would be mindful of Mr Roberts’ health as far as my role as his executive assistant allowed.

Because she had opened up so kindly to me, I decided to open up to her about a personal issue that also dealt with alcoholism, beginning by confessing that what she had recounted hit really close to home for me. What I’m about to share with you I shared with her at that point, and it is what counts as my second reason. If you recall, I mentioned in a previous email that I never finished college. I never finished college because, three years in, all the circumstances of my life turned upside down.

As many young people live with their parents while going to college, so did I, living with my mom. Now, on the exterior, my mom was a successful department store manager, but on the inside, she was always waging her own war against alcoholism. She had been on the winning side for many years, making my childhood and teenage years a happy, trouble-free time in my life, void of any real misfortune. When the pandemic came and perfectly shut down the country in 2020, however, my mom suffered a cruel twist of fate. The parent company of her department store was already mired in debt when, in light of the pandemic’s decimation of the economy, creditors insisted on payment. To appease them, it closed dozens of stores practically overnight, and my mom’s job vanished like early morning fog as a result.

The anxiety following such a drastic professional change, coupled with the dread of all the ruin which that virus so new and unknown to the world could continue to wreak, led my mom to find some solace in the occasional cocktail. Because I was green in age and experience, I could not see that her indulgences were taking her down a slippery slope, nor would I have been able to communicate maturely with her about her problem, could I have seen it.

I went about life normally, trying to finish my junior year online as best as possible. Meanwhile, my mom’s dependence worsened in every respect, transforming her plainly into an addict. The dark, low details of this I’ll spare you, but, suffice it to say, it shocked me and my sister, five years my junior. Impelled by an aversion to continue in indecent circumstances and a desire to protect my sister, I made the decision to pause my studies, and with whatever cash I had saved from the tutoring services I offered, besides with whatever I could source from the generosity of friends and neighbors, I left my mom, taking my sister with me.

Ironically, I continued to attend university, except not to study but to work as part of its staff. I earned enough to cover the cost of rent and very basic meals. It wasn’t until the following year when I met Ms Frances, my old boss I mentioned, that I moved up in the world, so to speak… Last I spoke with my mom, was over the phone. She was making progress, working at a print center. Her voice sounded healthy.

Diana

*****

Date: March 6 2026 08:16:58 AM

Diana,

Good morning! I was enthralled by your story. Thank you for sharing. :)

Okay I’ll stop by the steakhouse today around lunchtime, see if Mr Roberts is there.

Albert

*****

Date: March 6 2026 08:35:58 AM

Hi Albert,

Thank you! His first name is Henry by the way. I hope I’m wrong and you’ll say that all he was drinking was cranberry juice.

Diana

*****

Date: March 6 2026 02:10:07 PM

Diana,

Half an hour ago, I walked in, and as my eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the steakhouse, Mr Roberts came into view, sitting at the bar. I sat next to him, with just one seat in between us. A nearly finished glass of a hazel liquor over ice was in his right hand. I made small talk with him, asking him about the Premier League, since he seemed to look intently at the replay of an English soccer game on the monitor in front of us. He said that he didn’t quite get the hype around soccer, that baseball was his game. His answer was punctuated with a strong, distinct smell of alcohol, and strung together with a continuous, imperfect slurring. He must have been drinking all the previous hour. I’m sorry.

Albert

*****

Date: March 6 2026 02:19:12 PM

Albert,

Oh no! Darn.

I called Ms Roberts right after I read your email. She was immediately in tears, and my heart sank with hers for a moment. She is on her way here.

Diana

*****

Date: March 6 2026 02:22:46 PM

Diana,

It’ll all be okay! At least now Mr Roberts can get some help again. Let me know what happens!

Albert

*****

Date: March 6 2026 02:25:47 PM

Hi Albert,

Mr Roberts just walked in into his office. Goodness, he reeks. Darn! Mary should be here any moment. Yes, I will! Maybe Monday meet at the food court?

Thank you so much, and let me know!

Diana