In 2008, plaintiff Laurie Lindsey, 31, a cashier at Costco who is a lesbian, allegedly began to be verbally harassed by her supervisor, Juan Aguilera. Lindsey claimed that Aguilera subjected her to verbal harassment based on her sex and sexual orientation, culminating in an incident on Aug. 9, 2014, in which Aguilera “slammed” into her right side with his right arm and shoulder. Lindsey claimed she sustained a wrist injury. On April 25, 2015, Lindsey submitted a request to be transferred to a different warehouse location. Costco offered to help her transfer to other Bay Area warehouses, but Lindsey declined. Thereafter, Lindsey allegedly had another incident of physical harassment by a different supervisor. Lindsey claimed that the stress of trying to avoid Aguilera on a daily basis purportedly became disruptive to her mental health and overall well-being and that as a result, she requested a leave of absence on June 2, 2015. Costco approved the request, and then approved an extension of the leave of absence until Jan. 1, 2016. However, on Dec. 16, 2015, Lindsey suddenly resigned from her employment at Costco. Lindsey sued her employer, Costco Wholesale Corp. She alleged that Aguilera’s actions constituted harassment and that Costco failed to prevent harassment under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Lindsey also alleged that Costco was negligent in the hiring, supervision, and retention of Aguilera and that Costco was liable for Aguilera’s actions. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that there were incidents or patterns of wrongful conduct involving Aguilera, including Aguilera approached Lindsey while she was standing at a cash register at some point in 2008 and stating, in reference to another female employee standing nearby, “You’re chopped liver and she’s filet mignon.” Lindsey subsequently reported the incident to the warehouse general manager, who suspended Aguilera and issued him a disciplinary counseling notice. Plaintiff’s counsel also contended that, in around 2008, Aguilera began referring to Lindsey as “sir” whenever he interacted with Lindsey at work, but that Lindsey never saw or overheard Aguilera referring to other female co-workers the same way. Counsel further contended that when Lindsey was at the supervisor’s podium in 2008, Aguilera had walked up to other people that were around and said, “Watch what you say around [Lindsey].” In addition, plaintiff’s counsel contended that Aguilera frequently made flatulent sounds with his mouth whenever Lindsey bent over to pick something up and that this conduct continued until Lindsey was reassigned to member services in August 2014. Counsel argued that, based on Aguilera’s previous harassing and inappropriate comments, including Aguilera’s comparison of Lindsey to “chopped liver” and Aguilera’s comments regarding other women he viewed as physically appealing, Lindsey perceived the flatulent noises to be a continuation of Aguilera’s harassment and expressions of his contempt for her sexual orientation. Defense counsel denied there was any gender or sexual orientation harassment. Counsel called several employees as witnesses, including Aguilera, who described the “chopped liver” comment as a back-and-forth conversation in which Lindsey had asked what the other woman had that she didn’t and which Aguilera responded that “she’s like filet mignon.” Aguilera claimed that in response, Lindsey had retorted, “And what am I, chopped liver?” Aguilera also performed some of his flatulence sounds from the stand, explaining that joking around helped relieve stress at work. Costco’s witnesses testified that they had regular/daily contact with both Lindsey and Aguilera between 2008 and 2014 and that none of them observed or heard any of the alleged inappropriate comments attributed to Aguilera. In addition, defense counsel noted that Lindsey did not have any witnesses at the trial to corroborate her claims., Lindsey claimed that after Aguilera “slammed” into her right side with his right arm and shoulder, she went back to work for several hours, but that evening, she went to an emergency room with complaints of tingling, pain, and numbness emitting throughout her right hand and arm, as well as soreness in her right shoulder. She was subsequently diagnosed at the hospital with a left wrist muscle strain. Lindsey then saw an occupational medicine physician on Aug. 11, 2014, and was diagnosed with a right wrist sprain, a right forearm contusion, and a right upper arm contusion. As a result, the physician recommended no repetitive gripping, and no lifting, pushing or pulling more than 5 pounds with the right hand. Lindsey had a pre-existing injury to her right wrist at the time of the Aug. 9, 2014 incident. She testified that she had suffered a mild strain to her right wrist while at work in December 2013 and that she received physical therapy for that injury on multiple occasions between January 2014 and July 2014. However, Lindsey denied there was any connection between the alleged altercation with Aguilera and her pre-existing, work-related wrist injury. Lindsey claimed that she suffered from emotional distress as a result of the interactions with Aguilera and her attempts to avoid him on a daily basis. She alleged that as a result, she had to take a medical leave of absence and was ultimately forced to resign. She claimed that although she found other employment, she makes less than she did at Costco. Thus, Lindsey sought recovery for her lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. Defense counsel denied that the August 2014 incident with Aguilera was forceful and anything more than incidental contact that was misinterpreted by Lindsey.