In November 2013, plaintiff Cole Hudson, a truck driver who drove routes for Beverly Fabrics Inc.’s Watsonville warehouse, resigned from his position. Hudson claimed he was sexually harassed by a co-worker from 2008 until the co-worker was laid off in July 2013. He also claimed that, thereafter, Beverly Fabrics retaliated against him, forcing him to resign in November 2013. Hudson sued Beverly Fabrics Inc., alleging that the defendant’s actions constituted sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation, creating a hostile work environment and causing his constructive discharge. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that a co-worker, another truck driver, Dan Rangle, harassed Hudson about his gender by targeting his heterosexual identity with lies, homosexual slurs and fabricated stories about Hudson’s sexuality that Rangle then repeated to new and existing employees. Counsel maintained that the harassment of Hudson escalated to sexual gestures and physical harassment at work over the five years the two men worked together. Hudson claimed the problem remained unresolved after he reported the behavior to his supervisors, one of whom allegedly said there was no way to change Rangle’s behavior. He also claimed that Rangle referred to himself as “Big Swingin’ Dan” and would often talk about his sweaty buttocks, which Rangle repeatedly asked for him to wash. Hudson further claimed that the comments worsened and that Rangle started to lie to other workers, saying that he saw male prostitutes get into Hudson’s work truck. In addition, Hudson claimed that Rangle lied to other workers about him being with male prostitutes named “Bubba” and “Bubbalicious” and that the stories were repeated to newly hired workers and others over the next few years. Hudson, who is married with four children, alleged that he was disgusted by the comments and that as a result of Rangle’s lies, new employees would approach him and laughingly ask about “Bubba” and “Bubbalicious.” Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Rangle’s behavior started with Rangle sending inappropriate texts that contained sexual photos to Hudson’s work phone and that although Hudson told Rangle to stop, Rangle continued to send the photos for about two months. Counsel also contended that while Hudson was in Rancho Cucamonga picking up materials from one of Beverly Fabric’s vendors, Hudson was asked by the vendor’s employee whether he was a homosexual, a rumor started by Rangle to harass Hudson by misrepresenting Hudson’s sexual identity. Counsel further contended that other offensive comments continued as Rangle started to become physical, including such acts as putting Hudson in a head lock while trying to act as if he was going to kiss him or stick his tongue in Hudson’s ear. Counsel contended that on other occasions, Rangle brushed the back of his hands against Hudson’s buttocks, an action that ultimately escalated to other inappropriate physical contact and resulted in Hudson reporting the conduct and workplace environment to upper management. However, the behavior, including crude comments about Hudson’s wife, continued until Hudson reported Rangle’s improper workplace conduct and other workplace concerns to upper management, and Rangle was laid off. However, plaintiff’s counsel argued that the day the company laid off Rangle, Hudson asserted that he was scolded by his manager for going over the manager’s head to upper management with his report of workplace harassment. Thus, counsel argued that the manager retaliated against Hudson by assigning him the additional layover route to Southern California that Rangle had previously been driving and by directing Hudson to immediately switch from the truck he had been driving to Rangle’s truck from that point forward. Hudson claimed that he informed the company that the routing and truck assignments following his report of harassment were unfair and that he was ultimately forced to resign. In addition to his sexual harassment claims, Hudson asserted that he was subjected to gender discrimination because his report of same-sex harassment was handled differently than the company had handled other male/female sexual harassment reports. Thus, he claimed that he was denied the benefits and protections of the company’s strict policies and procedures because he was a heterosexual male making complaint of same-sex sexual harassment. Hudson further asserted that the company unreasonably failed to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace. Defense counsel argued that once Beverly Fabrics was made aware of the alleged harassing conduct, it promptly terminated Rangle and phrased the termination as a layoff at the request of Hudson. Counsel also argued that Hudson’s additional southern route and truck assignment were for legitimate business reasons., Hudson worked for Beverly Fabrics from 2005 to 2013. He claimed that after his resignation, and following the events of which he complained to the company, he was disabled from working in comparable employment because of emotional distress that he had developed as a result of his treatment at Beverly Fabrics. Thus, Hudson sought recovery of lost wages and emotional distress damages. He also sought recovery of punitive damages against the company.