In June 2015, plaintiff Sandra Pezqueda, 34, a dishwasher for Excellent Maintenance Service Inc., an independent staffing agency, rebuffed the alleged sexual advances of Teo Zaldivar, her male supervisor at Terranea Resort, a luxury outpost in Rancho Palos Verdes. Pezqueda was hired by Excellent Maintenance Service, which provided temporary workers, including dishwashers (known as “stewards”), for the Terranea Resort’s kitchens. However, she claimed that after she rebuffed Zaldivar’s alleged sexual advances in June 2014, he retaliated against her by changing her schedule and gradually cutting her hours so that she was working too little to support herself. Pezqueda claimed that after she complained to management in October 2015, she was fired. Pezqueda sued Excellent Maintenance Service Inc.; the company that manages Terranea Resort, Lowe Enterprises Inc.; and Teo Zaldivar (who was named in the lawsuit as Teo “Doe”). The owner of Terranea Resort, DH Long Point Management LLC (doing business as Terranea Resort) and its former company name, Long Point Development, LLC, were later added as defendants. Pezqueda alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted a creation of a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful termination. Lowe Enterprises Inc. and Long Point Development were voluntarily dismissed from the case. In addition, Zaldivar was never served, so he never participated in the lawsuit. Thus, the matter continued against Excellent Maintenance Service and DH Long Point Development only. DH Long Point Management, Lowe Enterprises and Long Point Development denied Pezqueda’s allegations and claimed that none of them ever employed Pezqueda. Pezqueda claimed that soon after she started working for Excellent Maintenance Service, Zaldivar began to verbally harass her and that, on one occasion, Zaldivar tried to hug her. She claimed that when she rejected Zaldivar’s advances, he retaliated against her by decreasing her work hours. Pezqueda further claimed that when she complained about Zaldivar to management, she was fired. Defense counsel for Excellent Maintenance Service contended that Zaldivar left Excellent Maintenance Service’s employment soon after Pezqued did, so he could not be located. Thus, counsel contended that no one was available to provide Zaldivar’s version of the events in question. Defense counsel contended that although Pezqueda claimed that she could remember incidents that occurred in 2015 and 2016, she allegedly could not recall the name of the employer where she presently works and had worked for the past 10 months. Thus, counsel asserted that Pezqueda’s memory as to any specific details for any alleged events was limited at best. Defense counsel contended that Pezqueda never reported to Excellent Maintenance Service that she was being harassed by Zaldivar and that on Oct. 17, 2015, Pezqueda only first reported to Terranea Resort employees that she had been sexually harassed by Zaldivar over the preceding four months. Counsel contended that the employees then notified Excellent Maintenance Service and that Excellent Maintenance Service and DH Long Point Management both immediately conducted separate investigations by interviewing Pezqueda, Zaldivar and all of the plaintiff’s witnesses. Counsel also contended that Excellent Maintenance Service suspended Zaldivar pending the results of the investigation. However, defense counsel asserted that both investigations determined that none of the alleged witnesses could support Pezqueda’s claims and that Zaldivar denied any wrongdoing. Thus, counsel asserted that it was a “he said, she said” situation and that Excellent Maintenance Service had no reason to believe one or the other. Thus, counsel asserted that Excellent Maintenance Service — in not wanting to prejudice either party, but trying to respect Pezqueda’s refusal to work any further with Zaldivar — allowed Zaldivar to return to work, but he was placed on a completely different shift than Pezqueda, such that they never worked together again and had no further interactions. In addition, counsel noted that Pezqueda made no further complaints to Excellent Maintenance Service. Defense counsel contended that Excellent Maintenance Service had no further issues with Pezqueda until it was contacted by DH Long Point Management on Feb. 22, 2016, at which time DH Long Point Management informed Excellent Maintenance Service that it no longer wished to have Pezqueda work at the hotel because she had become a poor employee, her co-workers were complaining about her taking excessive breaks, and she was confrontational with its employees, supervisors and chefs. Counsel contended that DH Long Point Management also informed Excellent Maintenance Service that Pezqueda was not punctual for the start of her shift and that she was giving her supervisors a negative attitude. Counsel contended that since Excellent Maintenance Service had no other location to send Pezqueda, and it could not continue to send her to Terranea Resort, it terminated Pezqueda’s employment. Excellent Maintenance Service’s counsel noted that after Pezqueda’s employment ended, and she made the claims against the defendants, Excellent Maintenance Service learned that Pezqueda had provided it with a false social security number and a fraudulent permanent residency card. Counsel asserted that had Excellent Maintenance Service discovered the falsifications earlier and/or discovered the fact that Pezqueda was not lawfully entitled to work in the United States, Excellent Maintenance Service would not have continued employed her., Pezqueda worked for Excellent Maintenance Service from June 2015 until Feb. 22, 2016. During that time, she worked as a steward and earned minimum wage. Since her termination, Pezqueda found other employment, but she claimed she suffered from emotional distress as a result of the incidents. Thus, Pezqueda sought recovery of lost wages and emotional distress damages. Pezqueda, 37 at the time of the settlement, was named one of The Silence Breakers, TIME’s 2017 Person of the Year. Pezqueda and Andrea Constand, who was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted at the home of Bill Cosby in 2004, were both outspoken in the #MeToo moment, a campaign in which tens of thousands of women and men spoke out against sexual harassment in the workplace using the hashtag #metoo on social media, including Twitter, and were among the first to litigate their cases in court.