SUBJECT: DEMAND FOR SETTLEMENT — Maria E. Webber v. Trend Micro, Inc. / TrendAI — Global Demand: $2,200,000 — RESPONSE REQUIRED BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS TOMORROW — EEOC CHARGE TO FOLLOW ABSENT RESPONSE
To Trend Micro, Inc. / TrendAI — Office of the General Counsel, Office of the CHRO, and the Board's Audit Committee:
This letter is a formal demand to resolve all claims arising out of my employment and unlawful termination. I have attempted to resolve the narrow matter of my unpaid expenses through prior correspondence, which the company has met with silence. That silence has resolved my remaining questions about how this company intends to treat me. Accordingly, I am now presenting my full demand.
I am representing myself in this matter. Self-representation is fully lawful in the State of Texas and in federal court, and correspondence from a party appearing pro se carries the same legal weight as correspondence from counsel. This letter should be treated accordingly, and all further communication regarding this matter should be directed to me at the contact information below.
I. GLOBAL SETTLEMENT DEMAND
To fully and finally resolve all claims arising from my employment and separation, I demand the sum of:
TWO MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,200,000).
This figure reflects the full scope of harm caused by the company's conduct, including but not limited to: lost past and future earnings following a retaliatory termination with no severance, measured against my base salary of $110,000 (exclusive of bonus, equity, and benefits); the value of protected activity that was punished rather than protected; emotional distress and the documented physical and psychological consequences that have followed; reputational harm; and the company's exposure on the claims set out below, including claims that carry punitive and statutory exposure.
I am prepared to substantiate each category through counsel and, if necessary, in discovery.
II. SEPARATE AND NON-CONTINGENT: OUTSTANDING EXPENSES ($4,294.35)
Independent of the settlement demand above, the company owes me $4,294.35 in documented, itemized business expenses submitted on June 17, 2026 — money I spent on Trend Micro's behalf, at its direction, on my personal card. This reimbursement is owed as a matter of contract and policy REGARDLESS of the resolution of any other claim. It is not a settlement item, it is not a negotiating chip, and it will not be treated as one. It includes a non-refundable New York City hotel booked for company travel with a check-in date of May 29, 2026 — the day the company terminated me, thereby making the booking unrecoverable by its own timing.
Pay it now. It is not in dispute.
III. THE DOCUMENTED RECORD
My claims are not allegations in search of facts. They rest on a dated, contemporaneous record:
- Nearly four years of continuous employment. Two internal promotions. No performance improvement plan, no written warnings, and no documented performance concern at any point.
- On March 11, 2026, I documented THREE formal employee-relations complaints and submitted them to HR (Christelle Le).
- On March 12, 2026, those complaints were escalated to CHRO Claudia Wu. Leadership acknowledged the pattern IN WRITING as one "with the potential of creating a hostile work environment."
- Leadership elected to "monitor" rather than discipline.
- On May 24, 2026, Rachel Jin, Head of TrendAI, affirmatively endorsed my strategic work.
- On May 27, 2026, I escalated the same employee-relations matter directly to Sanjay Mehta.
- On May 28, 2026, Ellen Thorne — installed as HR VP from Sanjay Mehta's personal network nine days earlier — emailed me offering to "sync" and "support."
- On May 29, 2026, Ellen Thorne signed my termination letter, on the TENTH DAY of her own tenure. No severance was offered.
- On June 1, 2026, I remained listed as a PRESENTER on the AMP Channel offsite agenda — three days after my termination.
The interval from documented protected activity to discharge is 79 days.
IV. CLAIMS ENCOMPASSED BY THIS DEMAND
This demand resolves, among others: retaliation for protected employee-relations activity; wrongful and pretextual discharge; hostile work environment; sex and gender discrimination under Title VII and Texas law; whistleblower retaliation; and the conflict-of-interest and corporate-governance conduct I documented, including the placement of personal relationships into roles held by women who were then eliminated. I am also directing this letter to the Audit Committee because that governance conduct implicates the company's obligations as a publicly traded entity.
V. STONEWALLING, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
The company has ignored my prior correspondence. It is doing so while I am without income and without health insurance as a direct result of a termination it engineered, and while I have a physical injury I cannot presently afford to treat. The company is withholding money that is mine and declining to answer for conduct it acknowledged in its own records. That is a choice, it is documented, and it is now part of this record.
VI. DEADLINE — CLOSE OF BUSINESS TOMORROW
I require a substantive written response, and payment of the undisputed $4,294.35, BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS TOMORROW.
VII. IF I DO NOT HEAR BACK: I FILE WITH THE EEOC
Let there be no ambiguity about what happens next.
If I have not received a substantive response by CLOSE OF BUSINESS TOMORROW, I WILL FILE A CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION WITH THE U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC) — by week's end, without further notice, without another letter, and without another opportunity for the company to reconsider.
I will file it myself. As stated above, I am appearing pro se, which is fully lawful, and no attorney is required to file an EEOC charge. A charge filed by a self-represented claimant is docketed, investigated, and given the same force as any other.
I will simultaneously proceed through every other available channel, including the Texas Workforce Commission (wage claim and Civil Rights Division), the courts, and referral of the governance conduct to the appropriate regulatory and oversight bodies.
My demand in litigation will not be lower than my demand here. It will be higher.
The company has until close of business tomorrow to decide whether this stays a private matter between us or becomes a federal charge with a docket number.
VIII. LITIGATION HOLD — PRESERVE EVERYTHING
Trend Micro is on notice to preserve all documents and communications concerning my employment, my employee-relations escalations, and my termination — emails, Slack/Teams, HRIS records, the ER thread and its escalation to the CHRO, my exit letter, my expense report, and the June 1, 2026 offsite agenda. This obligation expressly includes all records held by ELLEN THORNE, SANJAY MEHTA, CLAUDIA WU, CHRISTELLE LE, and RACHEL JIN. Destruction of this material will be treated as spoliation.
IX.
I would have settled the small thing quietly if the company had simply paid what it plainly owed. It chose not to. This is the larger conversation that silence produces.
I look forward to your response by close of business tomorrow.
Maria Elizabeth Webber
717-585-2031
