In April 2012, plaintiff Rickey Moland, 53, a production supervisor, was terminated from his position at Clow Valve Co., a Corona-based division of McWane Inc. that makes fire hydrants. Moland claimed that he was hired in June 2010, but that as the first and only black manager at the facility, he struggled to be treated with respect by many of his subordinates and superiors. He also claimed that employees regularly referred to him using offensive terms. As a result, two separate employees filed anonymous complaints about racism, which launched an internal investigation. However, at the conclusion of the investigation, Moland was terminated on the ground that he was not “getting along” with his fellow employees. Moland sued McWane Inc. and its subsidiaries, Clow Valve Co. and Clow Corp. He also sued several employees, including Randy Ballard, Steve Barhoust, Daniel Dart, Annette Ellis, John Jackson, and Todd Little. Moland alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted racial discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, and wrongful termination. The individual defendants were ultimately let out of the case, and the matter only continued against McWane Inc., Clow Corp., and Clow Valve Co. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that discriminatory behavior had taken place and that McWane Inc. was clearly in violation of discrimination and wrongful termination laws. Moland claimed that despite having a consistently excellent work performance, he struggled to be treated with respect by many of his subordinates and superiors at the company. He claimed that one co-worker called him “the ‘n’ word” as he was walking away and that two other co-workers regularly used the offensive term against him to made it clear that they did not care for him. He also claimed that managers and human resources became aware of the conduct, but did nothing to stop it. In addition, Moland alleged that he later learned from multiple sources that several employees, including supervisors and high-ranking management, regularly referred to him by office, derogatory terms, such as using “the ‘n’ word,” behind his back. Thus, Moland claimed that after anonymous complaints of racism were filed and an internal investigation was launched, the company responded by wrongfully terminating him. Defense counsel argued that Moland was fired for legitimate business reasons and that there was no discrimination against Moland. Counsel contended that Moland had problems with his peers, subordinate employees, and his boss to the point that Moland became increasingly disruptive to the work environment at the Corona plant., Moland claimed that he suffers from emotional distress as a result of his treatment at Clow Valve Co./McWane Inc. After working for Clow Valve for almost two years, Moland was terminated in April 2012. He currently works as a quality assurance inspector at Sunkist Growers, in Rancho Cucamonga. Moland claimed that although he is treated well at the new company, he made more money at Clow Valve. Thus, Moland sought recovery of past and future lost earnings, and emotional-distress damages. He also sought recovery of punitive damages.