Natalie Horton has been working for five months as an Assistant Project Manager for company that retrofits school buses with lifts for wheel chairs and other accessibility equipment for the handicapped. The project involves helping a regional consortium of $18$ small school districts comply with a new state law passed about $8$ months earlier. Two weeks ago the Project Manager $($her boss$),$ Mr$.$ Slick, had a serious heart attack, was hospitalized, and put on $6$ weeks bedrest. The next day his boss, Ms$.$ Driver, called Natalie and reminded her that Mr$.$ Slick was supposed to meet with all of the District Transportation Directors in two days. They were to discuss the buses already delivered, the work that was in progress, and a newly signed contract for $57$ more buses. Ms$.$ Driver was at an important US DOT conference in Washington D$.$C$.$ and could not return for the meeting. She said Natalie would have to conduct the meeting herself. She gave Natalie instructions and suggested that she not volunteer any information on changes to the group. She encouraged Natalie to say 'I don't know" to any complaints or questions raised, even if she did know the answer.

At the meeting, Natalie discovered that $5$ of the Transportation Directors were unhappy with a set of mounts used for the lifts on the first buses delivered. "These are not the mounts that we were shown in the display unit," one of them said. They had serious concerns about the durability and safety of the mounts. When asked why they had been changed, Natalie could honestly say "I don" know." She did promise to investigate it$,$ in order to calm them down. They said she needed to do so and report back to them. Otherwise, they would go to their Superintendents, recommending cancellation of a contract approved by the Superintendent group two weeks earlier for upgrades to $57$ additional buses. That was a concern since Natalie knew that they had been award the based on "Quality" even though they weren't the lowest bidder.

When she checked, she discovered that they had indeed changed mount vendors. In the meantime, she received a payment form from Accounts Payable to authorize a payment of a consulting fee for $$57,000$ to the Superintendent of the largest district in the consortium. It required a signature from someone in her department certifying that the work had been done and the money was now owed. She knew of no consulting that had been done during her time there and could find no documentation of any consulting report in the office. She was overwhelmed and called Mr$.$ Slick who had just returned home from the hospital. $5$he asked about both concerns. He exnlained that the vendor rhange was simnly hecaulse the new romnanv had a hetter nroduct and