On Nov. 20, 2009, plaintiff Giovanni Leiva was hired as a waiter at Strizzi’s Restaurant. He claimed that throughout the course of his employment, he was subjected to same-sex harassment by male coworkers. Leiva claimed that he complained about the harassment to management, but was subsequently terminated in April 2010 in retaliation for his complaints. Leiva sued Strizzi’s Restaurants Inc. He alleged that the defendant was liable for the sexual harassment by its employees, and was negligent in failing to prevent the sexual harassment and retaliating against him for his complaints. Thus, he alleged that Strizzi’s was negligent for creating a hostile work environment. Strizzi’s contended that Leiva was terminated because of poor performance that included failing to show up for assigned shifts, showing up late for work, wearing inappropriate work attire, and making errors on customer orders. It further contended that after Leiva complained about the alleged harassment, it properly investigated the complaints., Leiva initially claimed that he suffered emotional distress as a result of the harassment, retaliation and termination, but his claim for emotional distress damages was ultimately dropped prior to trial. Thus, Leiva only sought recovery of $60,000 in damages for his past and future loss of earnings. Defense counsel contended that Leiva was terminated for legitimate business reasons and, thus, was not entitled to any damages.