information learned during his employment at the company. And it
included this line: “I do not have any electronic or hard copy
information relating to Theranos in my possession in any location
including personal email accounts, any personal laptops or desktops,
trash/deleted folders, USB drives, home, car, or any other location.”
Before Alan had time to finish reading, he heard Sunny say in an icy
tone, “We know you sent yourself a bunch of work emails. You have to
let Mona access your Gmail account so that she can go through them
and delete them.”
Alan refused. He told Sunny the company had no right to invade his
privacy and he wouldn’t sign any more documents.
Sunny’s face reddened. His volcanic temper was building. Shaking
his head in disgust, he turned to Mona and said, “Can you believe this
guy?”
He turned back to Alan. Contempt oozing from his voice, he offered
to hire him an attorney to expedite matters.
The notion that a lawyer in the pay of Theranos would adequately
defend his interests in a dispute with the company struck Alan as
absurd. He declined the offer and announced that he wanted to leave.
Mona gave him his backpack, which he’d insisted she retrieve from the
lab. In return, she asked for his company phone and laptop. He
handed them over after quickly resetting the phone to factory settings
to wipe it of its contents. Then he walked out.
Over the next few days, the messages piled up in his voicemail box.
Some were from Sunny, others from Mona. They all said the same
thing, in increasingly threatening tones: he needed to come back to the
office, let Mona delete the emails from his personal email account, and
sign the affidavit. Or else the company would sue him.
Alan realized that they weren’t going to stop. He needed a lawyer.
Contacts with that Washington firm had gone nowhere. He needed
someone local he could consult in person. He called the first listing
that came up in a Google search: a medical malpractice and personal
injury attorney in San Francisco. She agreed to represent him after he
paid her a ten-thousand-dollar retainer.