On the morning of Sept. 11, 2015, plaintiff Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, 19, a nonverbal special education student with autism, was picked up by a bus driven by Armando Ramirez, an employee of Pupil Transportation Cooperative (JPA), in Whittier. Distracted by sexual text messages from a coworker with whom he was having an affair, Ramirez forgot to drop Lee off at his stop and, instead, proceeded to the bus yard. Ramirez then left the disabled teen in the bus and went off for a tryst with the woman whom he was having the affair. Temperatures outside reached 100 degrees, and Lee, who was left alone in the bus for several hours, died of hyperthermia. The decedent’s parents, Eun Ha Lee and Sang Sik Lee, acting individually and on behalf of their son’s estate, sued Ramirez, the Whittier Union High School District, and Pupil Transportation Cooperative (JPA). The Lee family alleged that Ramirez was negligent for not checking for students on the bus before he left the yard and that Pupil was vicariously liable for Ramirez’s actions while in the course and scope of his employment. They also alleged that Pupil was negligent in its training and supervision of its employees, and in its retention of Ramirez. They further alleged that Whittier was vicariously liable for Ramirez’s actions because it contracted with Pupil. In addition, the Lee family filed a claim under the California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, which allowed them to seek enhanced damages. Ramirez ultimately pleaded guilty to a felony, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that there had been problems with Ramirez before the incident, including reports that he had used his phone at work and was often distracted. However, counsel asserted that despite those reports, Ramirez’s supervisors did nothing about it. Counsel contended that as a result, Ramirez was once again distracted by his phone and was oblivious to the fact that the nearly six-foot and over-300-pound young man was still aboard, when Ramirez quickly exited without first performing the required child check and post-trip sweep of the bus. Whittier’s counsel asserted that the school district was not responsible for the incident and that Pupil was to blame for not properly training and supervising its employees., Paul Lee was left alone in a bus for several hours while temperatures outside reached 100 degrees. As a result, he suffered from hyperthermia (a condition of having a body temperature greatly above normal), resulting in full cardiac arrest. Lee was subsequently found unresponsive in the aisle near the front of the bus, and paramedics attempted CPR, but Lee was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene. Lee’s parents testified in depositions that, despite his disability, Lee had taught them how to find joy and meaning in their life and that their only son’s death turned their life upside down. Thus, Lee’s parents sought recovery of damages for the loss of love, relationship and affection of their son. They also sought recovery, under the dependent adult abuse cause of action, for their son’s pre-death pain and suffering.