MANELLA, P. J.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, No. BC630552 Terry Green, Judge. Vacated in part, affirmed in part, and remanded with directions.
Jones & Mayer and Krista Macnevin Jee for Defendant and Appellant.
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, J. Scott Tiedemann, David A. Urban and Alex Y. Wong for League of California Cities and California Special Districts Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.
Public Employees Legal and Oshea V. Orchid; Benedon & Serlin, Douglas G. Benedon and Wendy S. Alberts for Plaintiff and Respondent.
MANELLA, P. J.
INTRODUCTION
Respondent Jason Briley worked for appellant, the City of West Covina (the City), as a deputy fire marshal. During his employment, Briley complained that various City officials, including his then-direct superior Larry Whithorn, had ignored his reports of safety issues and engaged in misconduct. He later complained that Whithorn and others had retaliated against him in various ways. The City commissioned an investigation of Briley's claims but ultimately concluded they were unfounded. While this investigation was still pending, the City commissioned an investigation of allegations that Briley had repeatedly engaged in misconduct and unprofessional behavior. At the conclusion of this second investigation, Whithorn initiated Briley's termination, and another City official upheld the decision.
Briley contended his termination was the result of retaliation for his prior complaints and initiated an appeal to the City's Human Resources Commission (HR Commission). The commission was to hold an evidentiary hearing and deliver its findings and recommendations to Whithorn and City Manager Chris Freeland, who were the ultimate decisionmakers in the appeal. However, Briley later abandoned the appeal, asserting, among other things, that the commission had no jurisdiction to consider his retaliation claims, and that the appeal procedure was futile and violated due process because Whithorn and Freeland were biased against him and had prejudged his claims. He then filed this action against the City, alleging retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5.
The City asked the trial court to dismiss Briley's action for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies, but the court concluded that an appeal to the HR Commission was unnecessary. It found that the commission had no authority to consider Briley's retaliation claim, and that an appeal would have been futile because Whithorn and Freeland had been personally embroiled in appellant's matter. The case proceeded to trial, and the jury found for Briley and awarded him about $4 million, including $2 million in past noneconomic damages and $1.5 million in future noneconomic damages. The trial court later denied the City's motion for a new trial. On appeal, the City claims the trial court: (1) erred in concluding Briley was not required to exhaust his administrative remedies; (2) committed various evidentiary errors at trial; and (3) abused its discretion in failing to reduce the jury's excessive awards for noneconomic damages.
We conclude that Whithorn's involvement in the underlying dispute, on one hand, and his expected role in deciding Briley's appeal, on the other, violated the requirements of due process and therefore excused Briley from proceeding with his administrative appeal. We also find no reversible evidentiary error by the trial court. However, we agree with the City that the $3.5 million noneconomic damages award -- comprising $2 million in past and $1.5 million in future noneconomic damages -- was so excessive as to suggest it resulted from passion or prejudice. We therefore vacate the awards for past and future noneconomic damages and remand for a new trial on these issues, unless Briley accepts a reduction of the awards to $1 million and $100, 000, respectively. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.
BACKGROUND
A. Briley's Employment with the City and His Subsequent Complaints Against Whithorn and Others
In 2007, the City hired Briley as a fire-protection specialist and later promoted him to deputy fire marshal. As deputy fire marshal, Briley oversaw the operations of the Fire Prevention Bureau, which included checking building code plans for Fire Code compliance, inspecting existing buildings for compliance, and conducting fire investigations. Briley was initially supervised by Whithorn, then the fire marshal and assistant fire chief.