I have begun my first case since Andrews, and my fears were extremely valid. I feel incredibly anxious. My new defendant has a case very similar to Andrews. He was a very prominent employee in his workplace, and was said to have had much potential in his position. After my client brought his partner to a staff gathering, everything changed. He began being left out of conference meetings and phone conversations, and the work that he was given shrunk tremendously. His employers have definitely discriminated against and should be entitled to everything he is asking for. The only problem is we are lacking the “smoking gun”. During Andrews case, the witness testimony of the woman who claimed Andrews former boss knew she had AIDS and knew what lesions looked like dramatically changed our case. It was the evidence we needed to tear down his employer’s defense that they had no idea of his sexuality. Unfortunately, my current clients employers are stating that they are firing him due to a lack of performance and were unable to find anyone to testify otherwise. Every employee from his office either agrees with their employer or declines to comment.
It is for this reason that I am growing more and more anxious about this case. Everyday that goes by without finding evidence that helps us, my mind goes faster and faster. I feel a tremendous obligation to win. The anxiety that I had before the verdict on Andrew’s case is back with a vengeance. I knew this was going to happen eventually but I did not think it was going to be on the first case after. I have been trying to look at everything from two angles, how I would approach this, and how Andrew would have. At the moment It is not looking good for my client. Without the testimonies we need, this case has no standing. I can’t help but to think that if Andrew was here working on this case with me, we may have had a chance. Something about having Andrew around always brought out the best in me. I don’t know if it was because of my competitiveness or my admiration of his knowledge. I wish he was here.
