商務禮節美語第32期:法律訴訟(1)

Barry召集公司同事開會，有個壞消息要宣佈。

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Barry: Well, folks...I'm afraid I have some bad news. Our lawyers told me this morning that we are being sued.

Chris: Sued? Who's suing us?

Susan: And on what grounds?

B: An Australian man named John Smith alleged that his microwave exploded while he was using it last year. Mr. Smith suffered injuries and he wants compensation.

C: How much compensation does he want?

B: His lawyers are asking for two million dollars.

S: Two million! That's insane!

Barry說，公司被告了，We are being sued. sued is spelled s-u-e-d, sued, 是控告、起訴的意思。Susan問，起訴罪名是什麼，on what grounds? grounds，在這裏是理由、根據的意思。

Barry說，原告是一個澳大利亞人，被微波爐炸傷，索賠兩百萬美元，Susan覺得，That's insane! 這簡直是瘋了!

C: This is how the game is played. They ask for millions but it's usually a negotiating tactic.

B: Yeah, Chris is probably right. The figure of two million dollars is a place to begin bargaining from. They are probably hoping to settle the case quickly.

S: But Barry, we don't manufacture microwave ovens! How in the world are we responsible for an accident like this?

B: We might not manufacture microwaves, but our company does make a heat-sensing component that is part of many microwaves. Maybe Chris can shed some light on this, Chris?

Chris說，對方要價兩百萬只是一種談判策略，

a negotiating tactic。Barry也覺得對方希望settle the case quickly，儘快了結案子。可是，公司不生產微波爐，爲什麼要爲微波爐爆炸賠錢呢？Barry請Chris給大家解釋一下，shed some light on this. Chris說，

C: If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to our company's sensor chips. They are small chips that help control how heat is regulated.

S: So our chip made the microwave blow up?

C: Not exactly. The chip might have malfunctioned, but I doubt it. We test those products very rigorously and our quality control is strong. I don't think we are responsible for the explosion.

S: I don't believe the sensor could cause an explosion. We are innocent! This lawsuit is totally without merit!

原來，他們公司生產的sensor chip感應芯片是微波爐的感熱部件。不過Chris說，公司質檢很嚴格，所以芯片應該和微波爐爆炸無關。這麼說，This lawsuit is totally without merit, 這樁訴訟完全就是無理取鬧。那麼，公司要如何應對這樁官司呢？我們下次繼續聽。