On July 11, 2014, plaintiff Andres Carmin, an assembler in his 40s, was fired from his job at Hydraulics International Inc., an aerospace technology manufacturing company. Carmin’s job required physical activities, including bending and lifting. He subsequently began to experience knee pain and eventually underwent surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament on May 20, 2014. He then took a leave of absence to recover before returning to work on June 23, 2014. On July 8, 2014, Carmin was written up by a supervisor, for the first time, for cutting the wrong motor shaft. Carmin was subsequently suspended from work the next day, and his supervisor was suspended for two days for failing to provide Carmin with proper instructions. Shortly after Carmin came back, he told co-workers a story about the time he ran into an old classmate in Peru. Carmin and the old friend had been in a class with a teacher who allegedly beat some of his students. Carmin said the former classmate told him that the teacher was recently stabbed by one of his students. Carmin’s employer claimed Carmin threatened a different supervisor during that conversation with co-workers. Specifically, Hydraulics International alleged that Carmin said the supervisor would also be stabbed, if he was in Peru. Thus, Carmin was fired that same week. Carmin denied making any threats, and sued Hydraulics International for wrongful termination. Carmin maintained that he did not deserve to be suspended on July 9, 2014 because he was just following orders from his manager when he cut the incorrect motor shaft. Carmin also maintained that he did not make any threats to his supervisor. While he admitted to telling his co-workers the story about his teacher, Carmin claimed he did not mention the supervisor during the conversation. (Plaintiff’s counsel noted that one witness who had heard the conversation initially said that no threat was made before changing his story.) Carmin’s counsel accused Hydraulics International of shoddily investigating the incident and argued that by the time the company’s head of human resources got the case, she incorrectly believed Carmin had said he stabbed his former teacher. Carmin claimed that he was suspended and eventually fired because he requested accommodations following his knee surgery. He claimed that when he came back from his injury, he had a doctor’s note stating he had to be seated for most of the day, but his employer refused to give him more sedentary tasks. Defense counsel maintained that Carmin was suspended on July 9, 2014 for failing to clarify with his boss which shaft he was supposed to cut. Counsel also argued that Hydraulics International had a zero tolerance policy for threats and that the supervisor in question was afraid of Carmin following Carmin’s comments. Defense counsel also presented a witness who claimed to have heard the threat. In addition, defense counsel denied that Hydraulics International refused to accommodate Carmin’s injury, noting that there were stools Carmin could have used while performing his job duties. However, in response, Carmin’s counsel argued that a stool was pointless unless Carmin’s job duties were altered so that he no longer had to stand while performing his assigned tasks., Carmin did not obtain a new job until December 2015. However, the following February, he moved to Peru in order to care for his sick mother. Carmin claimed he became more withdrawn and less social after being fired from his job. He additionally claimed that he fought more often with his wife and that he usually just stayed in his room. He also alleged that he suffered from depression and anxiety following his termination. Carmin’s counsel conceded that Carmin should only receive lost wages from the time of his termination to the time he left the county. Thus, Carmin specifically sought recovery of $31,532.35 in past lost earnings. He also sought recovery of damages for past emotional suffering and punitive damages. Defense counsel disputed the amount of damages Carmin sought. Counsel specifically argued that Carmin was on disability for approximately five months after his termination and, thus, was not owed any lost wages for that time period. However, Carmin’s counsel countered that Carmin’s knee condition worsened as a result of Hydraulics International’s failure to provide accommodations, which required Carmin to be out of work to recover.