In 2008, plaintiff Vernon Creswell, a firefighter, joined the Montebello Fire Department. He claimed that after joining, he was subject to hostility as the department’s only black firefighter. He alleged that the battalion chief, Greg Mowad, repeatedly used racial slurs and that other members of the department harassed him based on his race. Creswell claimed that he ultimately reported the behavior, but that members of the department failed to act and, instead, retaliated against him. Creswell sued the operator of the fire department, the city of Montebello. He alleged that the city’s actions constituted racial discrimination, racial harassment, and retaliation. Creswell claimed that Mowad and another supervisor told other firefighters to take him “‘out back’ to teach [him] a lesson.” He also claimed that supervisors constantly criticized him for minor performance issues and for the manner in which he wore his uniform. In addition, Creswell claimed that he was denied a deserved promotion to the rank of captain due to his race and the complaints he made about the discrimination and harassment. Specifically, he alleged that during the test process for the captain position, he was given a different and more grueling test than three competitors who were not black. Defense counsel noted that Creswell enjoyed a positive career at the Montebello Fire Department, earned salary increases, and remains on the eligibility list for a promotion to engineer and captain. Counsel also contended that Creswell was provided with the exact same test as others applying for the job of acting captain and that the test process was not more grueling, but did involve three observers who provided input. Defense counsel also contended that when Creswell reported Mowad’s alleged racial slurs, the city investigated the complaint and proposed Mowad’s termination that effectively ended his career. Thus, counsel argued that the alleged harassing behavior that occurred within the limitations period was not sufficiently severe or pervasive, as there was no comment directed at Creswell in the relevant time frame. Defense counsel further argued that the comment about “taking him out back” was made in the context of responding to complaints by Creswell’s co-workers about Creswell allegedly abusing the leave system and asking the subordinates to talk with Creswell directly about their complaints since Creswell was not violating policy in how he used his leave., Creswell is still employed with the Montebello Fire Department. However, he claimed he suffered emotional distress as a result of the racial slurs and harassment. He also claimed he suffered a loss of earnings as a result of being denied a promotion. Thus, Creswell sought recovery of $4 million in emotional distress damages and approximately $400,000 in economic losses for the difference in future compensation for the failure to promote him to captain. However, since no one has been promoted to captain, Creswell did not request any back pay.