On May 6, 2015, plaintiff Cynthia Begazo, a human resources director in her 50s who worked for Passages, a drug and alcohol recovery treatment center based in Malibu, was terminated from her employment. Begazo claimed she was fired for complaining about other employees being discriminated against because of their disabilities and for refusing to change files in connection with oversights related to a patient’s death. She also claimed that she was discriminated against based on a disability, as she was terminated from her position two days after returning from her leave of absence due to leukemia. Begazo sued Passages Malibu PHP LLC; Passages Silver Strand LLC; Grasshopper House LLC; the co-founders of Passages, Chris Prentiss and Pax Prentiss; and Begazo’s supervisor and Passages’ chief operating officer, Marina Mahoney. Begazo alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, retaliation for complaining about others being discriminated against for their disability; age discrimination, disability discrimination, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. The individual defendants were ultimately dismissed and Passages Malibu PHP LLC settled out of the case. Thus, the matter continued against Passages Silver Strand LLC and Grasshopper House LLC only. In addition, the matter only continued to the jury on the claims of FEHA retaliation, disability discrimination, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Begazo claimed that in April 2015, a male patient was found deceased in one of Passages’ patient rooms. She claimed that there was bag and a trash can over the patient’s head, scratch marks on his face, and blood on the bed of the other patient in the room. She also claimed that she learned that the patient’s roommate inappropriately and insensitively took pictures of the deceased man and posted them on social media. Begazo allegedly asked if this information had all been revealed to the police, if there was a protocol for checking on patients, and if any witness statements had been obtained from nurses regarding the patient’s death. She also alleged that she reminded her supervisor that Passages is required by law to report the death to the Department of Health, the Joint Commission, and the liability carrier and that not doing so was illegal. However, Begazo claimed that in response, her supervisor angrily told her not to report anything. In addition, Begazo alleged that after the patient’s death, she reviewed Passages’ employee files and discovered that the company had not provided mandatory training to the nurse on duty the night of the death and that when she brought this information to her supervisor, the chief operating officer, she was told to “fix” the employee files. Begazo claimed that she refused to change the files because that would be illegal and that the files were going to remain as they were on the date of the incident and that shortly thereafter, her supervisor stopped talking to her, excluded her from employee-related meetings, and sent other employees to continue projects she was working on. During trial, it was revealed that the COO, Mahoney, also allegedly demanded another employee to “fix” the employee files after Begazo’s termination. Defense counsel argued that Begazo was terminated for cause, as Begazo was allegedly performing her duties insufficiently as a human resources director., Begazo began employment with Passages in February 2015. She claimed she has been able to find other employment after her termination, but that she does not make as much as she did at Passages in that she now allegedly earns about $20,000 less per year. Begazo also claimed that she suffers from emotional distress as a result of the incidents. Thus, Begazo sought recovery for her past and future economic and non-economic loss.