In November 2016, plaintiff Susanna Contreras Smith, superintendent of schools for the Montebello Unified School District, and plaintiff Cleve Pell, the chief financial and operations officer for the school district, were both terminated from their positions. Smith and Pell claimed they were fired for coming forward about alleged misconduct by the then-chief business officer, Ruben Rojas. Smith and Pell sued the Montebello Unified School District, Rojas and the trustee members of the school board, Benjamin Cardenas, Edgar Cisneros, Lani Cupchoy and Joanna Flores. Smith and Pell alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted retaliation and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Rojas was fired by the district in March 2017, and he was dismissed from the case prior to trial. Cisneros and Flores were also dismissed from the case at trial. Smith and Pell believed that Rojas, who was in charge of the district’s $300 million budget, fraudulently obtained his position with the district by making false representations in his employment application and by falsifying letters of recommendation. They also alleged that Rojas created a system for approving lucrative contracts that ensured the district hired only those companies with ties to Rojas, in violation of public contracting laws. Smith put Rojas on leave, and she and Pell brought their findings to the board. However, Smith and Pell claimed that their efforts were thwarted when the school board members covered up the alleged wrongdoing, sought to have Rojas return and voted to terminate them in retaliation for their whistleblowing. The district and school board members claimed that Smith and Pell were lawfully fired., Smith and Pell were both terminated form their positions in 2016. They sought recovery of compensatory damages for, among other things, their respective loss of earnings and alleged emotional distress.