On May 18, 2018, plaintiff Jalandhar Bidye, Indian American, who was a transportation manager for UMA Enterprises, Inc., was terminated from his position. The company is an importer of home goods from India and China that would be sold at other retailers. UMA Enterprises was originally started in southern California by two Indian American men and grew in size over the years. The company was bought by an investment group, who replaced the then-CEO with a new CEO. In November 2017, Bidye filed a complaint with the new president and investors alleging that he believed they singled out Indian employees for termination. He said he filed the complaint when he noticed that long-term Indian employees retired, quit or were fired. In January 2018, Bidye complained again to Human Resources, both orally and in writing, that he thought there was discrimination in the workplace after numerous Indian male employees were allegedly forced to quit or were fired. In April 2018 and then again in May 2018, Bidye complained about the company attempting to consolidate a 300,000-square foot warehouse with a 600,000-square foot warehouse by moving the smaller one into the bigger one. Bidye claimed there were safety issues with the status of the consolidation, including it being unsafe, a lack of space, stacking product too high, and a senior manager regularly riding a pallet jack for fun. Bidye also claimed the consolidation was not being well run, as well as possible illegal activities related to missing inventory and reports to the Internal Revenue Service. Bidye claimed he made a complaint on May 13, 2018 about the warehouse move. He stated that, although he made the complaint anonymously and in Spanish by using a translation, he was fired four days later. Bidye sued UMA Enterprises, Inc. Bidye alleged race/national origin discrimination, retaliation, and retaliation in violation of public policy. He had also pursued claims for age discrimination and religious discrimination, but those claims were dismissed on summary judgment. Bidye claimed he was fired in retaliation for his complaints of discrimination, safety issues and possible illegal activity. Bidye also claimed he was terminated due to his race/national origin. According to Bidye, the new director of operations for the company told him that the new CEO of the company indicated that the CEO was trying to change the Indian culture at the company. Defense counsel contended that Bidye’s first and last complaints were anonymous and the company did not know it was him. The company claimed that Bidye had stated that everything was resolved when he met with the HR director in January 2018. The HR director said that, while Bidye believed there was discrimination, he had no evidence. The HR director also said she looked into any alleged discrimination and found no discrimination happening. Defense counsel contended there was no discrimination and Bidye did not get along with others, was a poor performer and was not adapting and growing with the new management. Defense counsel contended that the company retained other Indian employees, as well as other races, and denied that the CEO ever made a statement about Indian culture. Bidye’s counsel maintained that the defense attempted to portray Bidye as being upset that there were white people and not Indians in the new management., Bidye was terminated from his position on May 18, 2018. He had worked for the company since 2007. After his termination, Bidye was on disability for a year, but then started working for ride-share companies as a driver. He claimed emotional distress from the events, but had no counseling or expert therapist testify. Bidye’s expert in economics testified about Bidye’s past and future lost wages. Bidye sought recovery for past and future lost wages and past and future emotional distress damages. Bidye also sought punitive damages due to the company’s alleged conduct. Bidye’s counsel noted that the CFO of the company testified in the punitive damage phase of the trial that the company was more than $265 million in debt, and, if it did not raise millions, it would have to file for bankruptcy and possibly close the business. Otherwise, the CEO testified, the company would need to lay off all or most of its employees. Defense counsel contended that Bidye should have found work sooner than he did, and that Bidye’s emotional distress stemmed from conflict he had with a coworker that started two years before his termination. Defense counsel also asserted that Bidye should not be awarded anything or, if he was awarded anything, it should be for lost wages for a few months. The defense’s expert in economics disputed Bidye’s expert’s numbers.