In November 2011, plaintiff Maria Montoya, a detective III in the Newton Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, suffered a recurrence of a work-related back injury while on vacation. She subsequently saw a doctor on Nov. 28, 2011, called the division to notify it of her injury, and sent in documentation. As a result, Montoya remained off work from Nov. 28, 2011, until Jan. 17, 2012. However, a little more than a week after she saw her doctor, on Dec. 7, 2011, the detective commanding officer, a lieutenant II, called to see where Montoya was because no one had notified the lieutenant. Montoya claimed that she thought the lieutenant sounded upset, but that she was told that the lieutenant had been notified about why she was not at work. Montoya eventually returned to work, but with light-duty restrictions, and the next day, on Jan. 18, 2012, the detective commanding officer told her that she was being moved to the Burglary and Theft Table from the Sex and Juvenile Crimes Table, which Montoya had supervised since 2009. Montoya was not happy about the movement and called her union to complain. She later contacted the area commanding officer, a captain III, and complained that she thought she was being retaliated against because she took “Injured on Duty” time off from work. However, the captain told her that Burglary and Theft had been spiking and that she was the only detective III left at Newton to address the problem. On Jan. 19, 2012, Montoya was transported to a hospital for an apparent heart attack, but her condition was later diagnosed as a severe panic attack. On Jan. 26, 2012, Montoya made a formal complaint against her lieutenant and, on Feb. 13, 2012, Montoya’s psychiatrist allegedly determined that Montoya was totally, temporarily disabled, from a psychiatric point of view, and placed her off of work. However, when the LAPD contacted the psychiatrist, inquiring about Montoya’s condition, the psychiatrist offered “no comment.” Thereafter, the LAPD suspended Montoya’s peace officer powers, and took back the city-owned weapon and badge. In November 2012, Montoya was informed that her complaint against her lieutenant was determined to be unfounded. Montoya ultimately did not return to work and received a disability pension from the city on Feb. 19, 2016, effective Oct. 15, 2015. Montoya sued the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department. She alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted harassment, disability discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, retaliation in violation of FEHA, and whistleblower retaliation in violation of the Labor Code. The court eliminated Montoya’s claim for harassment by granting defense counsel’s motion for summary adjudication. In addition, Montoya dismissed her whistleblower-retaliation claim during trial. Thus, the matter continued against the city on Montoya’s claims of disability discrimination and retaliation, per FEHA. Montoya claimed that the detective commanding officer, the lieutenant II that supervised her, became angry at her for not returning to work in 2011 and for not being informed about her being out of work due to an injury. She alleged that as a result, the lieutenant retaliated against her by transferring her from the Sex and Juvenile Crimes Table, where she had worked since 2009, to the Burglary and Theft Table. She also alleged that the lieutenant’s actions against her caused her to suffer stress that resulted in a severe panic attack that required hospitalization in January 2012. Montoya also claimed that the lieutenant caused her workers’ compensation benefits to be delayed due to incorrect statements the lieutenant made in the initial paperwork for the on-duty hospitalization. She alleged that as a result of the lieutenant’s actions, she made a formal complaint on Jan. 26, 2012. Montoya claimed that the city further retaliated against her, as a result of her psychiatrist placing her on disability, by suspending her peace officer powers and taking back her weapon and badge. Defense counsel contended that Montoya’s supervising lieutenant called Montoya about her absence on Dec. 7, 2011, because the lieutenant was unaware of Montoya’s absence due to Newton’s sick-and-injured on-duty coordinator, who normally kept track of absent officers, being absent in December 2011 and due to no new sick-and-injured on-duty coordinator being appointed until February 2012. Counsel argued that the city had legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reasons for the actions that it took and that the city’s actions were not adverse. Counsel contended that the move between tables was necessary to address a crime trend and that detectives III are administrators who are expected to be able to supervise any divisional detective table. Thus, defense counsel argued that there was no change in Montoya’s division of assignment, pay, or benefits. In addition, counsel contended that Montoya’s psychiatrist’s note necessitated the removal of peace officer powers and the city-owned weapon and that the ultimate decision-maker had no knowledge of Montoya’s complaints. Thus, defense counsel argued that the action could not be adverse because Montoya’s own doctor put her off of work and that, upon psychiatric clearance, the department would have returned Montoya her peace officer powers, badge, and weapon., Montoya claimed that she had worked for the LAPD since September 1994 and that she went out on temporary disability on Feb. 13, 2012, after her psychiatrist found that she was totally, temporarily disabled due to her severe, stress-related panic attack a month earlier. She ultimately went out on permanent disability, effective Oct. 15, 2015, and received a disability pension from the city. Montoya claimed that she required psychiatric treatment and psychological counseling for her emotional distress related to alleged retaliation. Thus, she sought recovery of economic damages for her lost earnings and medical expenses, and non-economic damages for her past and future emotional pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that, in addition to the disability pension for Montoya’s on-the-job orthopedic , Montoya has lifetime workers’ compensation benefits for her psychiatric .