In August 2016, plaintiff Irella Perez, superintendent of the El Monte Union High School District, was terminated from her position. Perez claimed that, prior to her termination, a board of education member, Maria-Elena Talamantes, discriminated against her based on her gender and that when she complained, she was fired. Perez sued the El Monte Union High School District; Talamantes; two other board members who also voted to terminate her, Maria Morgan and Carlos Salcedo. Perez alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted gender discrimination and retaliation, resulting in her wrongful termination. Perez’s prior additional claims of breach of contract, negligent retention, breach of implied-in-fact contract not to terminate without good cause, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unfair business practices in violation of California’s Business and Professions Code were dismissed on motions for summary judgment. The claims against the individual defendants were also dismissed, and the matter continued against the school district only. Perez claimed that Talamantes bullied her and wanted a male as the superintendent, instead of her. She also claimed that since she was a single mother, Talamantes doubted that she could be a good mother and lead the school district. Perez claimed that she complained about Talamantes’ actions and that she was fired in retaliation for making the complaints. Plaintiff’s counsel called one current and one former board member to testify at trial. They claimed that Talamantes harassed Perez, made gender derogatory comments to them about her and allegedly wanted Perez “gone.” They also testified that they complained about Talamantes’ behavior to the other board members and that they believed that Perez was retaliated against because of their complaints to the board. However, during cross-examination, the past and present board members denied ever being made aware of any complaints about Talamantes from Perez or any other board members. Talamantes denied making any derogatory comments. She also claimed that the board’s problems with Perez ranged from improper uses of public funds, Perez’s inability to use proper grammar in internal communications and communications sent to the community, and harassing and bullying staff members. Defense counsel argued that Perez’s firing was justified for a number of reasons, including spending thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to send a mailer to area voters that described the district’s achievements and included quotes from board members at the time, one of which was a close friend of Perez who was running for office in September 2015. The mailer prompted the Fair Political Practices Commission to fine the district. Defense counsel contended that the board hired a third-party investigator, who confirmed 21 issues with Perez’s job performance, including bullying and harassing staff, and misuse of school funds, and that those issues led to Perez’s termination. In response, Perez denied any wrongdoing regarding any of the alleged 21 issues that lead to her termination., Perez was unanimously approved by the board to be the district’s superintendent in March 2015 and received a positive evaluation in October 2015. However, she was put on paid leave in March 2016 and fired five months later. She claimed she suffered a loss of income as a result of the firing. She also claimed that she suffers from emotional distress as a result of the incidents and underwent therapy for depression. Perez sought recovery of past and future lost wages, damages for her emotional distress and counseling. Defense counsel argued that Perez did not attempt to mitigate her economic damages, as there were many jobs that were available that Perez could have applied for, but did not. Counsel also argued that although Perez treated with a doctor, there was no medical testimony supporting her alleged emotional distress. Defense counsel further noted that Perez was able to run for political office at the time Perez was allegedly suffering from emotional distress.