Facts brought out in the case revealed a Wild West sales environment at the Wyndham property. Employees routinely flouted rules and regulations by making oral promises to customers that differed from the terms of the voluminous contracts they signed when making a purchase. Moreover, Wyndham employees charged with policing sales representatives, according to Ms. Williams, were paid based on those representatives’ production, an obvious conflict.

Wyndham’s sales goals for employees were impossible to meet if representatives adhered to the company’s policies and regulations governing time-share sales, Robert Parker, a former sales executive, testified in depositions. When sales at the Canterbury lagged, he explained, something known as “TAFT days” came into play.

“TAFT is the acronym for ‘tell them any frigging thing,’” Mr. Parker testified. “In other words, it didn’t matter what you said. We need business. Today’s your day. Just tell them whatever you got to tell them. That’s what TAFT is.”

Mr. Parker did not reply to an email seeking comment.

What would happen if a customer complained? Typically, a company official would ask the sales representative who worked with the customer about the facts outlined in the complaint. The representative would inevitably dispute the customer’s report, and the complaint would be closed, labeled unsubstantiated, the former sales executive testified.

Another executive, an area vice president who oversaw about $300 million in annual sales at the company was asked how many complaints he had seen while working for Wyndham. Tens of thousands, he testified.

Like many companies, Wyndham set up a phone number that employees could use to alert management to problems. But after Ms. Williams reported abuses on what’s known as “the Wyntegrity line,” her bosses began retaliating. According to testimony from a former high-level Wyndham executive, Ms. Williams was “not supporting the agenda there, was not being part of the system.”

After Wyndham fired Ms. Williams, she encountered further obstacles. Initially, for example, four other Wyndham colleagues joined her in suing the company. But Wyndham struck financial settlements with them one by one and they bowed out of the suit. After settling, one former colleague turned on Ms. Williams, testifying against her on behalf of Wyndham at the trial. The jury did not appear to find the testimony credible, Ms. Williams’s lawyers said.