In March 2016, plaintiff Scott Dibble, a police officer with the Beverly Hills Police Department, began to be supervised by a new police chief, Sandra Spagnoli. Dibble claimed that Spagnoli soon began to express inappropriate interest in him and that, when he stopped responding to her inappropriate communications, she retaliated against him. Dibble sued Spagnoli and the city of Beverly Hills. Dibble alleged that Spagnoli’s actions constituted sexual and workplace harassment in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. He also alleged that the city was liable for Spagnoli’s actions and that the city was negligent for failing to prevent the harassment, in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Spagnoli exchanged work-related text messages with Dibble, but that the communication became inappropriate, including Spagnoli inviting Dibble to her home so that he could give her a ride in his personal vehicle. Counsel also contended that after Dibble stopped communicating with Spagnoli via texting, she retaliated against Dibble by not promoting him to sergeant. Defense counsel contended that Dibble’s allegations were untrue. Counsel asserted that Dibble’s claims were part of a broader campaign of allegations by a certain group of employees who were upset by operational and other changes that Spagnoli implemented soon after her hire in 2016, including changes to promotional processes that emphasized merit rather than connections to a former administration., Dibble claimed that he suffered a loss of earnings as a result of being denied a promotion to sergeant. He also claimed that he suffered emotional distress as a result of the alleged events. Dibble sought recovery of lost wages and damages for his emotional pain and suffering.