thanks, everyone. yeah, he's pretty much at their mercy at this point. it was the owner's c , i mean, wife that put the witch hunt out on him. she initially wanted to fire him but the vp took up for him. the owner was indifferent about it but the vp wanted him to stay. so she got the attorney to find a way to get rid of him, somehow. they really couldn't find a solid reason because there was no do entation of any performance issues whatsoever. all she could do was demote and drop his salary BUT they didn't do anything today because apparently you can't do that on the first day back from a medical leave. don't know if that's true or not. he spoke to the vp, away from work, and she told him all that. just an all around ty hose job done to my friend.