Tom clicked on Send. It was an email to co-workers in the agency's Division of Air Quality, including the many people he had worked closely with in the Raleigh central office and the agency's seven regional field offices. It was a good-natured message announcing that he was resigning to take a break from the world of work. Later, he received a short and surprising phone call. It was Director Keith Overcash.
"This is Keith. The only problem I had with you is that you contacted Human Resources."
After Director Overcash hung up, Tom tried to make sense of the surprising call. Was the madness of the past 12 months simply because he had called up Human Resources and asked for advice on how to handle a difficult situation? This was hard to believe. Or did Keith Overcash make this unexpected phone call to provide himself with some plausible deniability? Or was it both?
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