In 2009, plaintiff Danny Singson, a police officer with the city of Millbrae Police Department, began to receive poor performance evaluations and was recommended for disciplinary action. He claimed that Millbrae Police Commander Marc Farber discriminated against him for being Asian by singling him out for poor performance and recommending disciplinary action. In October 2009, Singson filed a lawsuit in federal court against Farber and the city, alleging race discrimination. He later amended the lawsuit in January 2010 to add his new supervisor, Commander Mark Raffaelli, alleging retaliation in violation of his First Amendment rights. In November 2010, Singson filed an internal administrative complaint, in which he claimed the city manager, Marcia Raines, did not take appropriate actions towards addressing his discrimination complaints. He subsequently filed a second federal lawsuit, in April 2011, against the city, Raines, Raffaelli and Police Chief Neil Telford that expanded his claim of retaliation under the First Amendment, and added a claim of retaliation under the California Fair Employment Housing Act. Singson claimed that Raffaelli issued unfair performance evaluations and that after filing his original lawsuit against Farber and the city, the defendants retaliated against him by changing his shift assignment. He alleged that when he requested to be returned to his original shift, the request was denied for operational reasons. Singson further claimed that his unfair treatment included being spied upon and the city initiating an investigation against him for misconduct. Farber was granted a motion for summary judgment on the original race discrimination claim and was dismissed from the case in December 2010. The remaining defendants contended that Singson was subject to regular personnel and management actions, which were unrelated to his underlying lawsuit and internal complaint. The defendants also denied the plaintiff’s claims of race discrimination and retaliation, and alleged that Singson suffered no adverse employment actions., Singson claimed that he suffered emotional distress as a result of the defendants’ actions. He alleged that as a result, he suffered bouts of sleeplessness, anxiety and physical impairments, requiring him to see a psychologist a few times. Since the filing of plaintiff’s lawsuits, the city of Millbrae outsourced its policing duties to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department. As such, Singson now works for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department. Thus, Singson sought recovery of an unspecified amount in non-economic damages and roughly six figures in general damages against the city and each individual defendant. He also made a claim for punitive damages. Defense counsel argued that Singson was owed zero damages, as the plaintiff’s emotional distress was nothing out of the ordinary and he lacked any medical testimony.