In February and March 2011, plaintiff Hootan Roozrokh, M.D., 40, a transplant surgeon, claimed he observed his supervisor, Dr. Michael deVera, Medical Director of Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Transplant Institute, commit ethical violations. Roozrokh claimed deVera manipulated the status of organ transplant patients in an attempt to fraudulently obtain organs that should have gone to transplant patients higher on the transplant list at other hospitals. As a result, he informed Dr. Ricardo Peverini, President of Faculty Medical Group of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, that deVera was acting “fraudulently” and “cheating” with respect to patients at the medical center. Roozrokh claimed that during the course of an investigation, deVera accused him of being incompetent, unfit to perform liver transplants, and a documented liar concerning a surgery while employed at Kaiser University. Roozrokh further claimed that he was accused of being untrustworthy and lacking surgical skills and judgment by his interim supervisor, Dr. Herbert Ruckle, Chief of Urology at Loma Linda. Faculty Medical Group ultimately terminated Roozrokh from employment within one month of his complaints. Roozrokh sued Faculty Medical Group, Loma Linda University Medical Center, deVera and Ruckle. Roozrokh alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted slander, defamation, hostile work environment and wrongful termination. Faculty Medical Group and Loma Linda were ultimately let out of the case, and the matter continued against deVera and Ruckle only. Roozrokh contended that deVera retaliated against him by making defamatory comments about him being incompetent and unfit to perform liver transplants. He also contended that Ruckle’s statements about his trustworthiness and surgical skills and judgment were defamatory. Roozrokh further contended that deVera and Ruckle showed malice, hostility and/or ill will toward him overcoming any qualified privilege. Thus, he claimed that the defendants’ statements led to his termination from employment, damaged his reputation and interfered with his ability to find employment as a transplant surgeon. Plaintiff’s counsel presented testimony from five physicians, both current and former Loma Linda employees, who corroborated Roozrokh’s allegations of ethical misconduct by deVera. Counsel also presented a video deposition of Dr. Beverly Bolinger, a Kaiser surgeon, who testified that she never informed deVera that Roozrokh had lied about a surgery or lacked surgical judgment. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel showed through surgical operative reports that Roozrokh had a 94-percent survival rate on the liver transplants he performed at Loma Linda, which was above the benchmark survival rate of 80 to 84 percent. Defense counsel argued that the statements made about Roozrokh were true and not defamatory. Counsel also argued that even if the statements were false, they were not made with hostility or ill will. Defense counsel introduced evidence of numerous concerns expressed about Roozrokh’s conduct, including testimony from four Loma Linda employees. In regard to Roozrokh’s 94-percent survival rate on liver transplants, defense counsel contended that Roozrokh was not the lead surgeon on a majority of the surgeries. Counsel further contended that of the seven transplants that Roozrokh performed as lead surgeon, one resulted in death., Roozrokh claimed he suffered $229,000 in past lost earnings and $4.2 million to $6.7 million in future lost earnings. He also sought recovery of $30 million in general damages for his emotional distress and damage to his reputation. Roozrokh claimed that since his termination, he was unable to obtain a position as a transplant surgeon and that as a result, he opened a successful general surgical practice in Los Gatos.