My Brother And Friends Slandered Me To Potential Employers So I DESTROYED THEM r/Relationships

[00:00:01] Hey Waffle Gang I do hope you are well my name is Mark and today we're checking out some more reddit stories and if you do love a reddit story why not consider hitting that like, subscribe, maybe that notification bell too and let's crack on with today's first story. Much love guys. Now today's first story comes from C++2017 from the Relationships Advice subreddit. It does have updates and it was compiled by YellowKingStie

[00:00:29] who said that they were unable to recover the original first post but OP did give a brief summary in their update so put that in there. So the title is I'm male 27, I'm suing my brother male 41 and my girlfriend female 23 wants me to disown my parents too. Is she right? I previously deleted the post just to be safe but here's a summary.

[00:00:55] After I got a degree in computer science my brother and his two partners recruited me to work a summer for them. They wanted me to set up their infrastructure for their new company in finance and investments. One summer turned into two years of free work as a secretary, receptionist, systems tech, personal assistant, accountant, research analyst. They paid me about four or five times totaling about seven to eight thousand dollars in two years.

[00:01:24] When I left to start grad school they were mad that I wouldn't stay. When I finished grad school and put them on my resume they lied to prospective employers about me. They denied I worked for them and said I was trying to use my brother's name to get ahead. They also accused me of visiting their office and sexually harassing female employees they never even had. I called them to ask them about it and they, including my brother, just laughed about the whole thing and said I was getting what I deserved.

[00:01:52] Kind of like, it's what you get when you fuck with us. My counselor and some other people from school, including my headhunter, helped me get a job. But I had to sue my brother and his partners for slander and other things. My brother called me to laugh about the lawsuit when they got served, but now they're scared and my brother has my dad pressuring me to drop the lawsuit and just sit down with them both to work something out.

[00:02:17] My dad called this just a little big brother bullying little brother nonsense and demanded I drop the lawsuit. He and my mom uninvited me to Thanksgiving at their house, but my mom pretty much tried to stay out of it. I could tell this was hard for her. There's very little to update legally in terms of the lawsuit, but I had a laptop that contained lists of clients that my brother and his partner stole from their prospective employers before they left to start the company.

[00:02:44] I didn't want to turn those files over to my attorney because things are bad enough for them already. My girlfriend had a different opinion. She wants me to just absolutely let them have it and crush them. I called my attorney and told them I had the files and dropped them off at his firm on the 9th. On the 10th, I got a call from his firm saying that my attorney needed to see me that very day. I went in and he said the files would be turned over to the US attorney's office. So it's out of our hands now.

[00:03:12] But he really wanted to talk to me about my parents. He spoke to my dad and basically said that my dad is a world class prick. He's going to subpoena both my parents to testify at a deposition and probably at a trial if we make it that far. He wanted me to prepare myself for what they might say about me. He made it clear that there is no turning back now. I didn't pay anything for my attorney to take the case so his firm is very financially invested in this now. Basically, they're calling the shots now.

[00:03:42] I think my attorney thinks I'm weak or that I'll want to take back off or take it easy on them. He actually told me he knows my family would weaken me. I think he underestimates me. Anyway, he told me to just brace myself for the heat my dad will bring on me. I told him I had two older sisters on my side and my mother was pretty neutral. He assured me that my mother is absolutely not neutral. So he just told me to prepare for anything.

[00:04:08] So I got phone calls from my two sisters who live about 300 miles away. They were disgusted with my dad and my brother's behavior and had told me that they were 100% behind me. Now they told me that my girlfriend and I are uninvited to go see them and their children this Christmas. They told me they loved me but that I needed to back off of this lawsuit. This was a little bit of a shock. It didn't crush me but it wasn't easy to hear.

[00:04:33] They won't be contacting me anymore and want me to not contact them and they said they have their reasons. They both cried when they called but I stayed calm. They also emailed my girlfriend to let her know about being uninvited to their homes for Christmas. My girlfriend blasted them both with a very scathing response that I wish she hadn't sent but it's her decision how she responds to them.

[00:05:25] She couldn't hear anything I don't think. But now there's nothing else going on. Oh, one other thing. My attorney said my brother and his partners closed the doors on their business already. They went under. They have filed some puzzling and contradictory responses to our lawsuit which surprises me because my brother is smarter than that usually. They have now changed attorneys and retained a reputable firm. The first thing the new attorneys did is ask what it would take to settle. My attorney says their new attorneys are smart.

[00:05:55] They know it would be a blood bath in court. I guess I'll just have to wait and see where it goes from here. But some of you commented from experience that the blowback from legal battles like this tears families apart for decades sometimes. I can see how this can happen and probably will. Edits, some of you are asking why my sisters changed their minds. I know that my dad helped them both buy their respective houses. They both still owe him a lot of money for that. My best guess is that he used that and maybe other things to coerce them into taking his side.

[00:06:26] TLDR lawsuit is at a standstill. My sisters are now on my dad and brother's side. I turned over the laptop and it looks like I'm gonna win. But it's not over till it's over. I think OP saying about how legal battles like this and some people commented how that can tear families apart for decades to come. I think that ship has already sailed. Your family all seems like they're against you doing the right thing in this situation.

[00:06:52] And clearly it sounds like the dad has said something to the sisters to turn them against you. I initially thought inheritance. If they owe him a lot of money and he really is that nasty, who knows what he's saying to them. Mystery Man says, In your place I would destroy these bastards. They're obviously very nasty people. And you've got enough on them to drive them out of business. I think you should do it. As for your parents, tell them to stay out of this matter. Because if they decide to choose a side, you are prepared to cut them out of your life.

[00:07:21] And as an aside, In your place I would tell your sister-in-law that your brother has been cheating on her too. Opie says, My sister-in-law knows he's been cheating for years. She's one of those women that feels as long as he comes home and keeps the money coming, she's good. I also think that's one of the reasons my sisters were so quick to take my side. They really hate that about him. It's like they were waiting for a chance to cut him off. Mystery Man replies that saying your brother sounds like a truly despicable person.

[00:07:50] You gave him every chance to put this right. And he attempted to ruin your career prospects and then laughed in your face. You owe nothing more. All three guys need to face the consequences of their actions. Opie says, He really did laugh in my face on top of all of it. All three of them also all of a sudden transferred their houses to the names of their respective wives. Like they think that's somehow going to protect them. They know better, but they're so arrogant. They think they can beat the system. A deleted user says,

[00:08:19] I was on the fence about total ruination when you said he never paid you. And then I got to the paragraph where your brother and his cronies tried to destroy your reputation. He is no longer your brother. He's your enemy. You need to go scorched earth on his ass. If he does this to his own brother, imagine what he would do to another innocent person who earns his spite. He needs to be exposed and lose his license. Your parents are uselessly in denial and you needn't consider their opinions as valid. Ignore them.

[00:08:48] As for the three pieces of shit who pushed you into this. I'm sorry you have to deal with the guilt of being the one to stop them. But you're doing the right thing. They need to be stopped. Opie says, One thing is to deny I worked for them. That's bad enough. But then to go the extra mile and accuse me of sexual harassment. That was a bitter pill to swallow. That was the embarrassing question to have to answer at job interviews. Commenter says, How did you not see this coming? I mean, you of all people should know what your brother is like.

[00:09:47] I knew they would have to hire five or six people to replace and that's not an exaggeration. So, I knew they would be mad. After that first year, I knew this would end up badly between me and my brother. But I could never have guessed it would have been this bad. That's why I decided to apply for grad school. Sure enough, when I finally left, all three of them were really pissed at me. They had not one ounce of gratitude for two years of free labor. But I never guessed they would slander me like that once I tried to get a job.

[00:10:15] Especially because when I was still in grad school, they would call me to come in on weekends and work for them. But by then, I was waiting tables at a restaurant near school. And by then, I had a couple of close friends who pretty much shook some sense into me. Because I actually considered going back to help them part-time while I finished school. I guess I should have seen more of this coming. But I was honestly, completely and utterly blindsided by them slandering me. And making up the whole sexual harassment BS. As narcissistic as they are, and I've never met more narcissistic people.

[00:10:46] I truly was shocked that they came that hard at me and showed absolutely no compassion. ZZ says, I don't understand. They didn't pay you for your work and you were going to let that slide. They could have at least put in a good word for you when you're applying for your new job. I don't understand why they were mad at you for leaving the company when they weren't even paying you for your job. That makes no sense. Maybe he says they were mad that they would have to hire five or six people to replace me.

[00:11:12] Then they got more mad when I refused to work for them even part-time when I was going to school. By then, I was waiting tables and actually making money. In their mind, they really believed that I left them high and dry. Even though I told them eight months in advance that I was leaving. They were so arrogant that they thought I'd never leave. I mean, come on. They were so arrogant that they thought that I would work just for the honor of being around them. And learning from their greatness.

[00:11:38] They actually thought if I stayed and learned from them, I could get my own clients, get rich, and that would be their way of paying me. That's how arrogant they were. PonoSaurus Rex says to OPR, man, you better be prepared for no family gatherings for a very, very long time. I don't think a lot of people would have gone as far as you did, and that certainly is your own choice. But who loses here now in the name of justice? Your family could lose a lot of money. Maybe they deserve it.

[00:12:06] But now there is no benefit to anybody but your attorney. As far as I can deduce from the situation. You are one emotionally rock solid human being. Perhaps a little too rocky. OP says they were making me un-horrible, so filing the lawsuit was something I had to do to clear my name. The four big companies that I got interviews with all said the same thing. That they wouldn't hire me because it looked as though I lied in my resume. And also the sexual harassment thing scared other companies away. I'm not suing my whole family.

[00:12:34] Just my brother and his two partners. They have a lot of money but will probably wind up broke after this. My parents don't depend on my brother for money at all. I did call them repeatedly and ask them to stop, but they just laughed at me and kept charging ahead and slandering me. It just became a game to them and they showed me zero respect. They were hoping I'd have no job to go to and would just come back and work for them again. That's what they thought would happen. JSH says your brother might be going to prison over this.

[00:13:04] To be honest, I think giving those files to your attorney was the wrong thing to do. I'm all for taking your brother to the cleaners because he screwed you out of money. But if your brother goes to jail, you're going to be uninvited to family functions for life. I agree with your attorney that you haven't thought this through and that you're going to have massive regrets very soon and wish you could call the whole thing off. My advice to you is to sit your girlfriend down and explain that handling this the way you have has caused a massive damage to your relationships with all your family members and that you regret that.

[00:13:32] Ask her to help you not say anything you don't mean and also ask her to stop saying inflammatory things herself. Explain that you appreciate her support and that you feel she's right to think what she thinks, but that you don't want to not see your sisters for the next 20 years or your mom. So you need to tone it down some and try to smooth things over. The next time your dad confronts you, ask him what he wants you to do. If the US attorneys have it at this point, then it's out of your hands. You literally are powerless to stop this train now. So ask him what he wants from you.

[00:14:02] This answer might be interesting. Opie says, Just from talking with my attorney, he thinks at worst the banks they use to work for may sue them for violating their non-compete contracts because they weren't supposed to contact those clients for one year. But banks don't usually sue after this long, especially because they're only able to steal about 5% of the clients on the list. In our state, I guess it's a little harder to enforce those contracts.

[00:14:27] They will only get in criminal trouble if those lists contain private information about people that would be illegal to take home as a bank employee. Either way, yeah, I guess maybe some jail time is in their future. Nothing I can do about it now. Opie also says, Also, you're not far off on the parenting. My parents always let my brother get away with things, but it was usually small petty stuff. I could always tell he was their pride and joy, but I didn't mind because I grew up idolizing him as well. It's kind of a big age difference.

[00:14:55] So even though he is my brother, he always carried himself as more of a fatherly figure. Generous Heart says, Opie says,

[00:15:45] More than anything, I'm thinking I'm hurting for my girlfriend. She takes things hard sometimes and was really blindsided by my sisters because we had plans to spend Christmas there. So this was unexpected. My girlfriend had bought gifts for my little nieces. So yeah, this was not expected at all. I woke up Monday night and saw my girlfriend sitting up in bed with her hands over her face. I know she finds all of this really hard to deal with. As far as my mom, I don't know what to make of that.

[00:16:12] I didn't want to go into so much detail again, but it would just be too much to type. But with what I'm finding out about my brother through my attorney, it's worse than I ever thought. Not paying me and slandering me was just what I knew about. But now we know there was other stuff like fraud against me and other things that I didn't know about. Serious tax violations also against me and against the IRS. And some identity theft where I used my name on some documents that I clearly didn't sign or even know about. The more they dig, the worse it gets.

[00:16:42] At some point, it's almost easier just to tell them to stop digging. Let's just go with what we have. I know one thing. I was very lucky when I left them when I did. Otherwise, I may have been dragged down with them and legal trouble they have coming their way. The commenter says, I feel like your sisters were coerced by your opposing family members to cut you off. Do you know if this is what happened, OP? OP says, I'm sure that's what happened. They didn't tell me anything other than they have their reasons.

[00:17:09] They said it hurts them to do this to me and that they loved me and always will, but they didn't tell me why exactly they suddenly changed their minds. Frankly, I didn't want to know why. I just wanted to hang up the phone as soon as I could. It was hurtful to hear them say they wanted to cut all contact. In fact, I'm glad I didn't stay on the phone long enough to hear those reasons because they would have just made it harder to stomach the whole thing. The commenter says, you are absolutely in the right here. I'm sorry your sisters turned their backs on you like that, but your girlfriend seems to have a good head on her.

[00:17:39] If a little heated. Rifts can heal, but you do not deserve to be treated this way. Good luck and make sure to keep us posted. OP says, yeah, when my dad told us that it should tell us something that the family is on his side and know we're wrong. My girlfriend told him something like, there's a big difference between people taking your side and people knowing you're right. They took your side because they owe you money and you coerced them into it. But they know you're in the wrong here. It should tell you something that you have to bribe people to be on your side.

[00:18:09] That's what should clue you into that you're wrong. My dad just looked at her disgusted and angry, but I've never seen him speechless like that. The female Dylan says OP, your girlfriend does not sound like she has anger management problems. She sounds like a mama bear whose instincts kick in when she realizes that her cub is in danger. You're really lucky to have her. I think it's been hinted at here, but I just want to reiterate that she is your family now. That is how family acts. That is how family defends family.

[00:18:37] As for your lawyer, if you trust him, you should let him do what's best. Typical, I am not a lawyer caveat, but you should know he also has an ethical duty to abide by your decisions of how to pursue this matter. As long as you're not asking him to violate laws or ethics himself. If you feel like he's taking over your case, feel free to tug the reins. He's obligated by the bar to listen. Good luck. OP says I'm not sure I want to tug on the reins. I'm going to let him take care of the legal stuff. At this point, I'm all in. I have to be.

[00:19:07] It's not like the family gets back together if I suddenly pull my punches with the lawsuit. So they admits drop the lawsuit or we disown you. There's no middle ground. They're not going to give me credit for pulling punches. As far as my girlfriend goes, I don't think she's overstepped any boundaries. My sister's emailed her, so she emailed a response. My dad addressed her in the argument and she responded. She just uses words that cut. But the truth hurts, so I guess there's no point in sugarcoating anything at this juncture.

[00:19:34] They're actively trying to hide their assets, but we know where they are. It's very hard to hide assets once they've been in your name. They've changed their houses to the wives' names, but according to my attorney, in the state we live in, any transferring of assets that is done in anticipation of a lawsuit is invalidated by the court. From what I understand, the court will go back as far as five years to see what they've been doing as far as transferring or selling off assets. McMersch says, OP, what were the below-the-belt things you said to your dad? Also, have you considered proposing to your girlfriend?

[00:20:04] Because it seems like she's just about the best person you've ever come across in your life. I'm sorry that you have the kind of family where a situation like this is possible. I couldn't imagine not having any family to support me. But all the same, I really hope you come out of this on top as possible. And maybe, just maybe, your dad and brother will have a silent realization where they say to themselves, holy shit, I am a horrible person. Have an awesome Christmas as possible with your girlfriend and hopefully she becomes something more soon.

[00:20:33] I think that'd be great for both of you. Also, is her family at all involved in this? Are they being supportive of her and you? Or are they out of the loop and a non-factor? OP says he's such an arsehole, but he just stood there and took it. He looked like he was about to cry. My girlfriend jumped in as well and asked him what it was like to go to the church that he goes to five times a week and then come out and be the kind of man that he is. She said, if judgment day comes for you tomorrow, what are you going to do?

[00:21:01] Give God your brother's name again and say that it was him. The squiggly duck says, holy camole. How did he react to that? I'm sure finally being able to vent and get all of it out felt good. You sound like a strong man and your girlfriend sounds like an amazing and supportive woman. Her family sounds very supportive as well. Have you thought about opening up more to them? I'm sure it'd be nice to have a support sister no matter how small, in the loop with all this craziness.

[00:21:27] OP says my dad reacted by standing there quietly and taking it, which is very unlike him. He's normally an overbearing bully. He's never speechless and he never cries. No way I'm going to put this on their shoulders. That wouldn't be fair. My girlfriend can tell them what she wants and vent as much as she wants. As long as they support her, that's more than enough for me. The shine policy says, what did your girlfriend say to your dad that cut? What did you say? OP says I posted that summary in a long comment somewhere on the post.

[00:21:57] But basically my dad questioned my morals so I brought up stuff about him. He cheated on my mother a long time ago. He got a DUI but gave the cops his brother's name and his brother took the rap for that about 25 years ago. His brother is no longer alive so it hurt him that I brought up how he treated his late brother. There was other stuff about him that had been excommunicated from a church for ripping off many of the members when he had a small construction business. Which he used his brother's license by the way. Because my dad had his revoked for being a crook.

[00:22:27] Then my girlfriend asked him how it felt to go to church five days a week. Which he does. And then came out and be the crook that he is. Then she asked him what he was going to do if judgment day came tomorrow for him. She asked what are you going to do? Give God your brother's name and say that he did all those things. Not you. So five months after that OP came in with an update and said okay let me begin by saying that I'm not the original poster. I'm his girlfriend. We lived together and I read the update post.

[00:22:55] My boyfriend is moving on and wasn't going to post a last update so I asked if I could and he said yes. Things have wrapped up. They signed a settlement agreement and now it's up to the judge to approve it. The judge won't do that for two more weeks but apparently it's a formality. It's a sure thing he'll approve it. Is what the attorneys say anyway. As far as the settlement I can't really disclose much. But I can say that it's close to what my boyfriend was suing for in terms of money figure.

[00:23:20] They transferred their houses to their wives names which are in the process of being sold to pay for the settlement. The settlement included a written apology and complete admission of guilt from all three of the defendants. They also have to write apology letters and retractions to all the employers that refused to hire my boyfriend based on them slandering him. I think there were four companies in all. All three of them had their license taken away and will never work as financial advisors again in any state apparently.

[00:23:48] They also will face a criminal investigation due to some forged signatures on some of the deals they made. Which will lead to conviction but probably no jail time according to the experts. Financially they are beyond ruined which is what I thought they deserved the whole time. I know my boyfriend regrets the whole thing and I understand that. It's his family and they were close at some point. I think he's better off without them anyway. That's easy for me to say. His parents are a totally lost cause.

[00:24:14] I don't think there will be reconciliation in this lifetime after what's happened. I thought my boyfriend would be open to one when the dust settled but now I don't. During the mediation hearings his mom and dad both testified. They both lied but I knew his crooked dad would. I was shocked that his mother lied about there having been a verbal agreement that my boyfriend would work for his brother's company in exchange for room and board at the parents house. And that the dad has also been paying him in cash for working.

[00:24:41] She said she witnessed my boyfriend refusing payment from his brother many times. She lied about a lot of very hurtful things right there while my boyfriend sat there and watched her. She never looked at him. Not once. His dad never looked at him either but at least he sat there the whole time after he testified to support his older son and his friends. His mother left the room crying after she testified. I was not shocked that she testified because the attorney had said she might. But I was extremely shocked about the horrible things she said about my boyfriend.

[00:25:10] She will someday regret doing that to her son. Ugh. Such an awful and just revolting and repulsive thing what she said. What she did to her youngest son is inexcusable. I was beyond utterly disgusted that she did that. She really has no clue how much damage she did to her youngest son. I doubt he'll ever get over it. And I doubt he will ever want to see her again. Not to rant about the mother. But she lied and said disgusting things about her youngest son. And he's the only good son she has. He's the only one who doesn't owe his dad anything.

[00:25:40] He's the only one with a compassion and high morals. The only one who constantly worried about her and kept in touch with her. She messed up in the most disgusting way. How could she do that? He was there for her more than her other three kids put together. Or for a lawsuit that she had to know they were going to lose. Her testimony did nothing to help their case. Nothing. She testified for absolutely no reason. We sent Christmas gifts to my boyfriend's sisters and their daughters.

[00:26:08] We received thank you cards in return. They haven't contacted my boyfriend since. But I've received a couple of hello emails from one of them. She never mentions my boyfriend's or the family problems. She just says hello and asks how I'm doing. I just respond saying we're doing good and hope they're doing well. I'm not sure where this will go but it's a small step in what seems like will be a long road before they're allowed by their father to reconcile with their brother. Or until they have the courage to do so without their dad's blessing.

[00:26:35] I think they're both too embarrassed to contact my boyfriend directly. I can sense that they're trying to find a way that will eventually lead them to him. I think they need to just contact him but that's not my decision. I keep looking at this from my perspective and my family is really close so it's hard to watch what's going on with his family. I just think what the hell? Why do you do this to each other? But that's just how it is. Just to be clear I knew very early on that my boyfriend's parents were toxic.

[00:27:03] I initially just wanted him to cut all ties with them with the way that they sided with the older brother. Knowing how he tried to destroy his own little brother's career told me a lot. I wish back then my boyfriend would just disown them all but I knew that was unrealistic at the time. I knew I was emotional and I backed off when I saw how stressed my boyfriend was. But things escalated and escalated and now I think my boyfriend's mom has dealt a death blow to any chance of reconciliation. I'm not just saying that because I'm against it.

[00:27:32] I'm not for it and I'm disgusted with her. But I can see the damage she did up close. I'm afraid he may never forgive her. She just went overboard in such a horrible way. I've been talking to my dad about this the whole time and everything has turned out exactly how he said it would. Everybody, all parties are destroyed. It's like a bomb went off and everybody got hit. And there were some relevant comments from the girlfriend replying to some of the commenters.

[00:27:58] The crew says about the settlement and the written apologies, etc. And being forced to sign. Then reply to that saying, That gave me a massive justice boner. That aside, it's good that he succeeded in his case. I only hope that he can live happily without his shitty parents for the rest of his life. Being estranged from family can be very hard for some people. Try to be there for him the best you can. Good luck, you two.

[00:28:28] I hope he says all parties were destroyed to some degree from this legal fight. My boyfriend will recover eventually, but I don't know when. I keep thinking he will fall apart, but he's been going on about his daily stuff like nothing has happened. I know it's more than pain than he is showing right now. I know that because he literally does not sleep. He just lays in bed totally awake. That is not normal for him. He is the kind that has a hard time waking up, not the other way around.

[00:28:54] The Pew was a creep says, I think especially because of how his mum reacted. Being rejected by her on top of everything else was probably traumatic. The breakdown of familiar relationships can do horrible things to your mental health. And being rejected by a parent really hurts. He's probably going through a kind of grieving process for his relationship with his family. If you can suggest it to him, he'd probably benefit from some therapy or counselling to help him work through his feelings. And have an objective third party tell him it's not his fault.

[00:29:22] On some level, he knows you're his supporter. So hearing from you, they're the ones who did him wrong, isn't the same as somebody who isn't his friend or long term partner. Opie says yes. He's totally shattered from his mum's despicable actions. I can tell as much as he tries to hide it. The full mount, he says, this is exactly my thoughts. Her punishment will be having to live with that decision for the rest of her life. It'd be so tough having to choose between going through a divorce and cutting ties with the majority of her family

[00:29:49] versus doing the right thing and saving the relationship with her one son. I would hope that in the situation I would do the right thing. But there might be more barriers than we know about in a moral predicament. I suspect that the majority of the people who are emotionally vulnerable or easily coerced would probably side with their partner in this situation. You'd have to have ironclad determination and the willpower to uphold your moral beliefs in this situation and be willing to risk everything for what is right. Opie says to be honest, I don't think I can give her that much benefit of the doubt.

[00:30:19] She had choices. She would not have been financially strained even if she lost her husband. She knew that because my boyfriend always let her know that before things got really ugly when they were still talking. She had a choice and she knew how disgusting a person her husband is to everybody he comes into contact with. She had a choice and it wasn't a bad choice. She had very good options. I really hate her right now. She hurt her son worse than she will ever know. Greg vs Greg saying exactly this.

[00:30:48] The mother wasn't picking the bad son. She was picking her husband. The relationship in a marriage should be stronger than any other type of relationship. Even to your own children. That doesn't make what she did right. Not even close. What she should have done though was talk to her husband long before the trial even began. And told him that she didn't agree with how he was viewing the whole situation. Maybe she could have swayed him a bit and prevented herself from getting stuck defending the people she obviously knew were wrong. Either that or maybe the father really does run everything.

[00:31:17] And whatever he says goes. That type of situation can work sometimes. But only if the leader of the family is flawless. In times like this when the father is very much wrong about everything. It all goes to shit as each person follows the leader down the path of destruction. Like lemmings off the edge of a cliff. But at the end of the day she made her choice. Hope she doesn't one day come crying to OP saying. I had no choice. I didn't want to do it. I had to. Bullshit. OP says yes. It is bullshit.

[00:31:47] She had very good options and her choices even from the beginning were so horrible. She should have never stayed quiet. It's not like she's so weak that she can't stand up to her husband. She's not that kind of woman. She stands up to him sometimes. She just chose not to. Even still. She should have never testified. And worse. Even lied. And she lied in such a despicable way. Macron says thank you for the update. You're an amazing girlfriend to stick through this. I went through a similar thing a few years back. Pretty much destitute.

[00:32:17] And the only thing that stuck around was my girlfriend. Who has since become my wife. Loyalty is an increasing rare trait. And should be valued above just about anything. That said. If he hasn't proposed within six months. Post an update. I think I'd be joined by many others here. In contributing to a kickstarter. To kick him in the balls monthly. Until he's remedied that. I hope he says. I know he will propose. And he will get married someday. But I understand that this black cloud. To clear just a little bit. I don't want to lose him to depression.

[00:32:47] And I don't want to pressure him. My dad has been good at keeping me in check on that. Cause sometimes I get impatient. So I need to stay proactive right now. And get him all the help he needs. But six months seems like a long time or so. I won't put a timetable. But hopefully he proposes soon. Random human user says. Are you allowed to discuss the settlement like this? I hope he says. Yes. We are even allowed to say how much money. And all the details. There's absolutely no gag order. Or privacy clause in the agreement.

[00:33:14] All the details will be public information anyway. Because they will face future lawsuits. From former clients. So what they lost in the lawsuit will be public. In order to determine. What they have. And can pay in future potential lawsuits. That may come in the future. I'm super glad that they went through with it in the end. That family just sounds absolutely horrible. You know. Then talking about the dad being a crook and stuff. And then reading some of the comments in the middle. That was like trying to dissuade OP from taking action on this. So I was like what?

[00:33:44] Because like family. And it's like family doesn't treat you like that. Family doesn't shit on you the way that we've seen time and time again in this story. And I hope one day with professional help or whatever it is. OP. The boyfriend really does realize this. That he's not in fault in any way in this. He's been treated by shit by his family. I was still left wondering what was going on with the sisters in the situation. Clearly the dad's got some kind of hold over them.

[00:34:13] And I hope one day that they can break that hole and get in touch with their brother. Whether that's a good thing or not. I'm not totally sure yet. But the initial actions of the original brother in this. Telling his potential employers about sexual harassment. It's just such an evil thing to do. And not something family would do to each other is it? But girlfriend sounds like an absolutely amazing person. Someone that OP really needs in this situation.

[00:34:42] She really had his back. And I kind of dread to think what position the original OP would be in without the girlfriend behind him. Because like we always say. It's very easy for like me to make comments on someone's family situation. Sat here behind a microphone. Reading a very small part of someone's life. But when things have been normalized time and time again. In a dysfunctional family like we're seeing here. Like I just said. It becomes normalized for them. They can't see.

[00:35:11] I think it becomes just very grey and difficult to see the shit situation you're in. And how you can be easily manipulated with the family stuff. But anyway. Now I'm going to turn this one to you guys. What do you guys make of this situation? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below. Just a huge thank you for being here today. Getting involved in the stories. Your love. Your support. Your time. It always means the absolute world to me. So thank you so so much. And hopefully.

[00:35:40] I will see you in the next one. Take care. And much love.

[00:36:28] Audible. Now only at Audible.