Laura A Panos

I will always be profoundly grateful for the invaluable help Laura Panos provided to me when—at age 61 and after more than 20 years of dedicated and well-regarded service with a company—“my position was eliminated.” (I love how they phrase that: They’re not casting out a human being, just eliminating... a position! It’s strictly a business decision, with no moral ramifications.) It feels like a mugging. You are afraid, angry, diminished, and vulnerable, and amid this sudden torrent of emotion, they thrust incomprehensible legal documents at you with imminent deadlines to sign them. Panos was like a fierce gunslinger that stood between me and a remorseless corporate lynch mob. She was expert in the legal rights that I didn’t know I had, as well as the tactics the company was using to circumvent them. She clearly explained strategies to me with no bullshit, gave me options, and then completely took charge of negotiations. The lawyers and human resources personnel at my company were arrogant and efficiently heartless. The bottom line was all. But she extracted significant concessions in severance pay and health benefits that really helped reduce a lot of financial trauma. But more than that, she also extracted a bit of justice. She represented me as a person. Throughout the entire grueling process, she was always available. She listened with great patience, kindness, and caring. She held a mirror up to the corporate types, constantly reminding them that a human being was involved. She recognized how important it was to stand up for that. And that reminded me that I was a worthwhile human being—a feeling that my employers had squeezed out of me and that she helped restore.