In 2010, plaintiff Patricia Williams, a timeshare sales representative for Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc., the world’s largest timeshare company, reported that elderly customers were allegedly being defrauded by Wyndham salespeople. Williams claimed that the salespeople were opening and maxing out credit cards without their customers’ knowledge, and lying about reducing interest rates, maintenance fees and the ability to obtain rental income from their timeshares. She also disclosed an alleged illegal, industry-wide practice of falsely representing that if owners spend enough money — often hundreds of thousands of dollars — Wyndham would buy back the timeshare at full value at the owner’s request. Williams claimed that Wyndham responded by firing her in December 2010. Williams sued Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Wyndham Worldwide Corp., and Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc. Williams brought causes of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy and in violation of California Labor Code § 1102.5, which provides that an employer may not retaliate against an employee for disclosing information where the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation of state or federal law. Williams also sued Anita Howell, alleging that Howell’s actions constituted defamation. Williams’ former coworkers — Steve Gutfield, Marty Whitney, Susan Bernstein and Michael Moran — also sued Wyndham, claiming retaliation. However, Gutfield, Whitney, Bernstein and Moran negotiated settlements with Wyndham and dismissed their claims years before trial. Linda Tanner was initially named as a defendant, but she was ultimately dismissed from the case. In addition, it was determined that Wyndham Worldwide Corp. was incorrectly named as a defendant and dismissed from the case. Thus, the matter went to trial against Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, and Howell. Williams’ counsel called witnesses who testified that Wyndham employees engaged in “pitching heat,” which consisted of high-pressure sales tactics, allegedly involving deliberate lies and misrepresentations to get people to buy more timeshare “points.” The sales practices allegedly included “TAFT” days, which stood for “Tell Them Any F—ing Thing” days, where employees were encouraged to say anything to make a sale, as long as they did not put it in writing. Williams’ counsel further contended that the highest selling sales agent was quoted as saying, “I sold my soul to the devil. I can say whatever I want, so long as I don’t put it in writing. That’s why Wyndham has good lawyers.” Williams’ counsel noted that Wyndham claimed that Williams’ allegations of sales fraud were “unsubstantiated,” despite dozens of similarly documented complaints from timeshare owners and employees. Williams’ counsel also argued that Wyndham failed to discipline salespeople who had been accused on multiple occasions of serious fraud, yet terminated Williams after one complaint that she had said negative things about management. Counsel further contended that Wyndham management called Williams a “troublemaker” and a “cancer.” In addition, Williams’ counsel contended that Howell said false and malicious things about Williams. Specifically, counsel contended that Howell made two written statements to Wyndham’s human resources investigator, who was looking into issues related to Williams. Howell contended that her statements were not defamatory and that, in any case, her statements were privileged since they were part of a human resources investigation. Wyndham’s counsel asserted that Williams was terminated for trying to have coworkers and supervisors fired for “personal reasons,” including bragging that she, “Got one b—h fired and would not have a problem going after another.” Counsel also asserted that Williams “misused” Wyndham’s complaint process to “intimidate” those who did not align with her and that Williams’ behavior warranted immediate discipline. Wyndham’s counsel noted that Williams did not purchase any timeshare from Wyndham and did not sue Wyndham for fraudulent sales practices. Accordingly, under the law governing the trial, neither the jury nor the court were permitted to make a determination concerning Wyndham’s sales practices that Williams alleged had occurred and that, in fact, the court made no such determination., Williams testified that watching Wyndham repeatedly refuse to take action to protect elderly owners from fraud was horrible and distressing. She also testified that she suffered anxiety and depression after being targeted and terminated for her complaints and that she was forced to sell personal items and live with family members after she lost her job and career. Thus, Williams sought recovery of lost wages and damages for her emotional distress. She also sought recovery of punitive damages. Wyndham’s counsel noted that Williams did not seek treatment from a medical professional for her alleged emotional distress. Counsel also argued that Williams was stressed more by her former lawyers than by Wyndham’s alleged actions.