Plaintiff Grace Suarez, a registered dental assistant, alleged that she was sexually harassed by Reza Hekmat, her employer and owner of the dental practice, and that when she raised concerns, she was retaliated against. Suarez ultimately resigned. Suarez sued Hekmat and Reza Hekmat DMD Inc. (which was erroneously sued as “Dr. Reza Hekmat DMD Inc.”). Suarez alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted sexual harassment, retaliation and constructive discharge. Suarez claimed Hekmat made inappropriate comments to her over the six month period she worked for him at his office. However, she claimed that when she complained about the comments, she was counseled for alleged poor performance. Thus, Suarez claimed she was forced to resign when she could no longer tolerate the harassment and improper disciplinary actions. Hekmat and his dental practice denied there was any alleged inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature toward Suarez and denied any counseling was retaliatory. Rather, Hekmat asserted that Suarez abandoned her position after she was counseled for substandard performance. Hekmat and his dental practice claimed that they reduced Suarez’s hours and placed her on probation as a result of her poor performance. They also claimed that, upset at the counseling, Suarez never returned to work and created the false claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. Defense counsel noted that none of the other staff of the dental office supported Suarez’s claims and, in fact, declared under oath that they never saw any improper conduct by the defendants or heard Suarez complaining about alleged improper conduct. Counsel contended that after Suarez abandoned her job, it was discovered that Suarez had filed several false claims with various governmental agencies against Hekmat and the dental office. However, defense counsel noted that both the Employment Development Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Suarez’s claims lacked merit and that she had misrepresented facts while under oath at hearings., Suarez claimed that during the six months she worked for the defendants as a dental assistant, she suffered severe emotional distress due to Hekmat’s outrageous behavior. Thus, Suarez sought recovery of damages for her lost wages and emotional distress.