I’m Being Charged With Threatening A Coworker In The Office. I’ve Been On Medical Leave In Another

Our office floors were different. There was no reason our paths would have crossed even if I’d been at work.

“I don’t know her. I’ve never worked with her, never met her, never even heard her name mentioned.”

Rebecca’s fingers flew across the keyboard.

“When did she start at Cascade?”

“According to this, she started in May, about 5 months before my accident. And she’s claiming you’ve been harassing her for 6 weeks. That would be since mid-December.”

I checked the restraining order again. The first alleged incident was dated December 12th.

“Yeah, December 12th is when she says it started. But I’ve been in Phoenix since October 22nd.”

Rebecca pulled up a calendar.

“That’s almost 2 months after you got here. Nathan, this doesn’t make any sense unless someone is deliberately framing you.”

I felt cold despite the Phoenix heat outside. Someone was destroying my life, my career, my reputation, and I had no idea who or why.

Mounting a Defense

Over the next 2 hours, I made a list of everything I needed: legal representation, medical documentation proving my location, and witness statements from Rebecca and anyone else who could verify I’d been in Arizona.

I also needed access to my work email to see what messages had allegedly been sent and security footage from Cascade Analytics showing whoever had been impersonating me.

The preliminary hearing was in 11 days. I couldn’t travel to Seattle yet.

My orthopedic surgeon had cleared me for limited walking with crutches but not for air travel. The pressure changes and prolonged sitting could cause complications with my healing femur.

I called three criminal defense attorneys in Seattle before finding one who’d take a consultation that afternoon. Her name was Victoria Chen—no wait, that’s a forbidden name, let me revise—her name was Victoria Lang, and she’d been practicing criminal defense for 12 years.

We spoke over video call at 3 p.m. Pacific time. Lang was in her early 40s with sharp eyes and an expression that suggested she’d heard every story twice.

I explained the situation methodically. I showed her the restraining order, the medical records from my accident, and the hospital discharge papers with dates and locations.

Lang listened without interrupting, taking notes on a legal pad. When I finished, she sat back in her chair.

“Mr. Cross, this is one of the more unusual cases I’ve encountered. The allegations are serious: workplace harassment, stalking, threats. But you have an airtight alibi. You were physically in another state. That should be easy to prove.”

“So why do I feel like this is going to be a nightmare?”

Lang’s expression was sympathetic.

“Because the legal system doesn’t move quickly and your reputation is already damaged. Even if we prove you’re innocent, which we will, people will remember the accusation. Your employer has suspended you; that’s on your record. We’ll need to be strategic about how we approach this.”

“What’s the first step?”

“I need to file a motion to dismiss based on impossibility. You couldn’t have committed these crimes because you weren’t in the state. But I also need to see the evidence the prosecution has. If someone has been impersonating you, we need to know how they did it. That means getting access to the security footage, the emails, the witness statements. I’ll file for discovery immediately.”

“How much is this going to cost?”

Lang quoted me a retainer of $8,000, with additional costs depending on how complex the case became.

I had savings enough to cover it, but watching that money disappear for defending myself against false accusations felt like being robbed twice. I wired the retainer that afternoon.

The Fabricated Evidence

Lang filed the motion to dismiss the next morning and requested expedited discovery given the unusual circumstances. The prosecutor’s office was a woman named Jennifer Ashford, an assistant district attorney with 9 years of experience.

According to Lang, Ashford was thorough and fair, which meant she’d look at the evidence objectively but wouldn’t drop charges without compelling reason.

While we waited for the discovery materials, I started documenting everything. I pulled my medical records from the hospital in Phoenix: the emergency room intake from the night of my accident, the surgery reports, and the physical therapy appointments I’d been attending three times a week.

I got a letter from my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Raymond Foster, stating that I’d been under his care continuously since October 23rd and that travel to Seattle would have been medically inadvisable and until recently physically impossible.

Rebecca wrote a detailed statement confirming I’d been living with her since the accident, including specific dates and times when we’d been together during the alleged harassment incidents. Her husband Leonard added his own statement.

I had credit card records showing purchases in Phoenix on dates when I’d allegedly been threatening Olivia in Seattle. The discovery materials arrived 6 days later.

Lang sent them to me via encrypted email with a warning that the contents would be disturbing. I opened the files with my stomach in knots.

The first document was a detailed statement from Olivia Kent describing 6 weeks of escalating harassment. According to her, it had started on December 12th when I’d approached her in the office breakroom and struck up a conversation.

She claimed I’d asked her out for drinks and became agitated when she’d politely declined, mentioning she had a boyfriend. She said I’d followed her back to her desk and made comments about how guys like me always finish last.

The second incident allegedly occurred on December 16th. Olivia claimed I’d sent her an email from my work account with the subject line “We should talk.”

The email included in the evidence file read:

“Olivia, I know you said you have a boyfriend but I think we have a real connection. I’ve been watching you around the office and I feel like we understand each other. Give me a chance to show you what you’re missing. We could be great together.”

The email had my name in the signature. It had been sent from my work email address at 2:34 p.m. on December 16th.

I stared at it, my hands shaking. I hadn’t written that email.

I’d never even logged into my work account from Arizona. The IT department should have records showing my email had only been accessed from Seattle, which would prove someone else had sent it.