From May 2008 through June 2010, plaintiff Lorraine Sunday, a medical doctor with a Ph.D. in pharmacology, was in the residency program at the University of California at Irvine. Sunday had obtained her Ph.D. at the university and tested in the top 10 percent of all residents. However, she was not promoted in the program. Sunday claimed that she was not allowed to sit for a standardized test, and filed a grievance action with UCI, but was denied a grievance. She claimed that as a result, UCI forced her to do a second-year residency for a third time. Sunday sued UCI’s operator, The Regents of the University of California. She claimed that the defendant’s actions constituted discrimination based upon her national origin and race. The Regents of the University of California filed a demurrer to dismiss Sunday’s causes of actions for breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and it was granted. A cause of action for harassment was also dismissed on summary adjudication. The matter then proceeded to a bifurcated trial on liability. Sunday contended that she was not promoted in UCI’s residency program because she was an African-American from Nigeria. She claimed she was asked to take an accent reduction class and that she was the only person asked to take such a class in the residency program at any time. Sunday also claimed that the program director for the residents had hidden or stolen some of the documents from her file in order to cover up all the good reviews she received. Sunday claimed that she was not given COBRA benefits properly and that the promotion she sought was given to a Caucasian male instead of her. She further claimed that her mock oral exams were false because some of the doctors who did her reviews were biased against her. In addition, Sunday claimed she was forced to redo her second-year residency because UCI treated her like a revolving door, or just a warm body to fill a spot. UCI contended that Sunday was not promoted because she was simply not competent. It claimed that Sunday had poor reviews and poor mock oral examinations. It alleged that the poor reviews of Sunday described her as being disorganized, unable to prioritize and not a good fit for surgery because she seemed to lack urgency or passion in the field. UCI also claimed that while Sunday described herself as an excellent resident, there were numerous residents who testified that she was not on the same level as the rest of the residents in the program, and that she simply could not handle the pressure and move as quickly as the other resident doctors from one task to another. UCI also contended that Sunday’s race and national origin had nothing to do with her non-promotion, that she was never terminated or forced out of her residency program, and that she simply never came back after taking a leave of absence on Sept. 14, 2009. It claimed that it offered to work with Sunday throughout the residency program, even after she was on leave, and asked her to contact the university in order to discuss finishing her year. It further claimed that the plaintiff was asked to repeat her second year residency because she had not yet met the requirements to move on to the third year, and that UCI had a duty to the public to make certain to not promote one who was not qualified. In addition, UCI denied that it stole or lost any part of Sunday’s file, and presented evidence that the plaintiff filed a previous lawsuit with similar contentions against the University of Massachusetts when she was not allowed to return to that residency program after she took a leave of absence. UCI further noted that Sunday did not match to any medical residency program when coming out of medical school and that this was her third attempt at getting through a residency program, which also included the University of Oregon., The trial was bifurcated; thus, damages were not presented before the court. Sunday, at deposition, claimed that she suffered a loss of earnings as result of not being able to practice as a surgeon. She also claimed she suffered emotional distress from having to repeat her second year of residency. Thus, Sunday sought recovery of damages for her lost earnings and pain and suffering, as well as sought to be reinstated at the residency program at UCI.