In 2015, plaintiff Wayne Guillary, an African-American police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, received a notice to correct performance deficiencies after being involved in a late-night car chase following an officer-involved shooting. Later that year, he was demoted from his position as a watch commander. Guillary claimed that he was retaliated against for filing a prior lawsuit, and for his complaints of racial discrimination and inappropriate behavior within the police department. Guillary sued the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging that the defendants’ actions constituted discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Guillary claimed that in 2000, he complained to his supervisors that he discovered LAPD internal recruitment documents stating that the department was hiring “too may ni–ers” and “mud ducks,” but that his supervisors told him that he “supervised too black.” Guillary claimed that as a result, he was demoted, sent to an office by himself for a year, and given no responsibilities. He alleged that as a result, he sued the LAPD, and the matter was settled in 2001. However, he claimed he continued to be the victim of racism throughout his career. Guillary claimed that in 2013, he was berated and demeaned by a captain for merely informing his supervisor about a traffic accident in which an officer was taken to a hospital. He contended that he then emailed his chief to express concerns about what he believed was a racially-related comment made by the captain. He further claimed that in 2014, he spoke out against a Los Angeles Police chief’s handling of a white officer who allegedly made racial slurs against blacks in a bar while off-duty. Guillary claimed the police chief overruled the recommendations of high-ranking police officials and a Board of Rights panel, and declined to fire the white officer. In addition, Guillary claimed that he appeared before the police commission in January 2014 to report his concerns about “ghost cars,” which was allegedly a scheme perpetrated by command staff whereby patrol divisions would have people log into squad car computers to make it appear as if officers were on patrol when they really were not. Guillary contended that as result of his complaints, he received his first notice to correct performance deficiencies in 2015, after being involved in a late-night car chase following an officer-involved shooting. He alleged that it was the first such discipline in his 34-year career. Guillary contended that he was further retaliated against when he demoted from his position as watch commander later that year. Defense counsel denied all of Guillary’s allegations, and contended that Guillary was punished for not reporting an incident in which Guillary was involved in a late-night car chase following an officer-involved shooting. Counsel also contended that Guillary was demoted in order to accommodate his medical condition. In response, Guillary maintained that he did report the car-chase incident and officer-involved shooting, but that he was punished anyway. He also maintained that the demotion was due to a 1997 medical condition that had never been used against him before for any reason., Guillary joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1981, and by 1997, he was made the officer in charge of recruitment. He was later promoted to watch commander, but he was demoted from the position in 2015. Thus, Guillary sought recovery of lost earnings as a result of the demotion. Guillary claimed the racist treatment caused him to suffer emotional distress, anxiety, worry, and shame. He also claimed the racist treatment and demotion caused damage to his good name, reputation, and standing in the community. Thus, he sought recovery of damages for his emotional pain and suffering.