On Aug. 26, 2015, plaintiff Sandra Hernandez, 41, a house cleaner and caretaker, was a passenger in the front seat of a vehicle driven by plaintiff Jose Galindo. As a they were traveling in San Mateo, they were pulled over for a broken tail light by San Mateo Police Officers Derrick Jarvis and Faysal Abi-Chahine. During the traffic stop, Hernandez was asked for her identification even though she was not operating the vehicle. Instead of providing a driver’s license, she handed over her Costco card, which had her picture on it. After doing so, Abi-Chahine told Hernandez, “You look like you’re under the influence of drugs.” As a result, Abi-Chahine ordered her out of the vehicle, aimed a flashlight into her eyes, asked her to stick out her tongue, and took her pulse. He then ordered Hernandez to the passenger, front side of his vehicle, which was parked directly behind Galindo’s vehicle. Abi-Chahine then ordered Hernandez to put her hands on the hood of his car and told her he was going to search her. During the search, while standing behind her, Abi-Chahine placed both of his hands in Hernandez’s side pockets. Galindo was still seated in the driver’s seat of his vehicle with Jarvis standing next to the driver’s side of Galindo’s vehicle when Hernandez screamed out in objection to Abi-Chahine’s search. As a result, Jarvis ordered Galindo out of his position and said, “I need to get you out of the car for officer safety reasons.” Jarvis then proceeded to walk Galindo over to where Hernandez and Abi-Chahine were located. The officers then had both Hernandez and Galindo sit on the curb while Galindo’s vehicle and Hernandez’s purse were searched. Hernandez and Galindo were both accused of being high on drugs, but they were ultimately let go without citation. Later that same night, Galindo and Hernandez flagged down another San Mateo police officer to ask for directions to the police department so that Hernandez could make a formal complaint. They then proceeded to the police department, got the complaint form, and Hernandez presented it the next day for filing. Hernandez and Galindo sued Abi-Chahine; Jarvis; and the officers’ employer, the city of San Mateo. Hernandez and Galindo alleged that the officers’ actions constituted violations of their Constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. They also alleged that the city was liable for the officers’ actions. Galindo ultimately settled out of the case. Hernandez claimed that she was asked for her identification during the stop even though she was not operating the vehicle and that because she could not locate it immediately, she provided her Costco card because her picture was on it. However, she claimed that by doing so, Abi-Chahine accused her of being under the influence of drugs and ordered her out of the vehicle. She also claimed that despite her objected to being searched by Abi-Chahine, the officer still stood behind her and placed both of his hands inside her side pockets. Hernandez further claimed that Abi-Chahine twice went all the way down to her vaginal area in a deliberate circular fashion, causing her to scream out. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that Hernandez’s on-scene objections to Abi-Chahine’s “search” of her were noted by both officers. Thus, counsel asserted that Abi-Chahine was negligent for failing to call for a female officer to perform the search of Hernandez or for failing to ask Jarvis to come and witness his actions. Plaintiff’s counsel further noted that the Internal Affairs investigation found that Abi-Chahine violated the police department’s policy of making a reasonable effort to get an officer of the same sex to conduct the search or to have the search witnessed by the fellow on-scene officer. Abi-Chahine denied he groped Hernandez., Hernandez claimed that she suffered from emotional distress, which her counsel asserted any reasonable person would have suffered in similar circumstances. Hernandez did not seek any counseling, so she had no medical bills. She also claimed that she had no residual or permanent distress/disabilities. Thus, Hernandez sought recovery of non-economic damages for her past emotional distress.