On April 11, 2008, plaintiff Diane Zwarg, an owner controlled insurance program administrator in her 40s, was offered either a reduced schedule/salary or a severance package from Union Bank Insurance Services, a unit of Union Bank of California, N.A., due to the struggling market. Zwarg was originally hired by Union Bank Insurance Services in December 2004, after having previously worked as an independent contractor for Tanner Insurance, which was purchased by Union Bank in 2003. She ultimately decided to accept the severance package in April 2008, but the offer became null and void when Union Bank announced it was being sold. On June 3, 2008, the Tanner unit of Union Bank Insurance Services was officially purchased by BB&T Tanner Insurance Services of California Inc., which became Zwarg’s new employer. On July 9, 2008, Zwarg was offered a full-time position that she accepted on July 16, 2008. She then took a leave of absence due to stress, claiming that she was subjected to discrimination and harassment due to her age. Zwarg has not returned to work at BB&T. Zwarg sued BB&T Tanner Insurance Services of California Inc., Union Bank of California, N.A., and Darcy Shears, Zwarg’s manager. Zwarg alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted age discrimination, age-based workplace harassment, retaliation, and failure to prevent discrimination/harassment. Zwarg claimed that starting on April 11, 2008, when she was offered either a reduced schedule/salary or a severance package, she was subjected to discrimination and harassment based on her age, primarily by Shears. She claimed other instances included not receiving her severance package, being denied a summer schedule, being asked to bring in a jury duty note, and not being allowed to take work off to see her daughter’s school play. The defendants denied all of Zwarg’s claims as being unfounded. They claimed that Zwarg was never harassed or discriminated against, and was always fully accommodated on her requests. Shears alleged that she was the same age as Zwarg and that Zwarg’s seniority prevented her from being laid off in June 2008, when several employees were purged following the sale to BB&T., Zwarg claimed she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, requiring therapy, due to Shears’ treatment of her. She alleged that as a result, she is unfit to return to work and has been on social security disability since January 2009. Thus, Zwarg sought recovery of $2 million in damages for her emotional distress, $1.4 million in past and future lost earnings, and an unspecified amount in punitive damages. Defense counsel argued that Zwarg wasn’t owed any lost earnings since she was still an employee and that Zwarg abandoned her job. Counsel further argued that Shears did not cause Zwarg any emotional distress.