On May 23, 2015, plaintiff Francisco Ortega, 38, a wire splicer for AT&T, responded to a trouble call at the 6100 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, in South Central Los Angeles, to repair a utility pole located at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. Due to the gate of the church begin locked, Ortega went to the apartment complex around the block from the church to ask for permission from one of the tenants to access the utility pole on that property. However, as he walked onto the open driveway of a nearby unit, he heard a bark from what seemed to be a very large dog. Ortega retreated for safety, but as he was standing on the sidewalk apron area of the driveway, texting his boss, a 150 to 200 pound Cane Corso Mastiff breed of dog lunged at him. The dog’s paws landed on Ortega’s torso, knocking him to the ground. Ortega instinctively placed his hands out to brace his fall and fractured both of his wrists. The dog continued to lunge and attack him for several minutes until Ortega was able to get to his feet and use his pocket knife to keep the dog at bay until its owner came out to the sidewalk to restrain it. Ortega sued the owner of the dog, a tenant of the apartment complex who also did maintenance work there, William Morgan; and a physician who owned the dedicated Section 8 housing complex and had his practice next door to it, Donald Ware. Ortega alleged that Morgan was negligent for failing to control the dog and Morgan was acting within the scope of his agency during the attack. He also alleged that Ware was vicariously liable for Morgan’s actions. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Ware paid Morgan to do maintenance work around the property and that Ware knew of the presence of dog and authorized it to be used to protect the common area of the property, as well as other tenants, from transients known to be trespassing from Crenshaw Boulevard. Counsel also contended that Ware saw the subject dog a handful of times before the incident, during which time the dog would jump against the screen door of the room where the dog was kept, toward the rear of the property. Plaintiff’s counsel further contended that Ware not only knew that the subject dog was present on the property, but must have known of the dog’s dangerous and/or vicious propensities before the date of the incident. Morgan was in default and not present at trial. Ware admitted he knew the dog was on the property, but claimed he had no knowledge as to whether the dog had any dangerous and/or vicious propensities before the incident. He also claimed that Morgan did not do part-time maintenance work for him at the property., Ortega sustained fractures to both wrists, including a comminuted, intra-articular fracture of the left wrist’s distal radius and ulnar styloid, and a nondisplaced fracture of the right wrist’s distal scaphoid. He was transported by ambulance to the emergency room at a Kaiser Hospital. A closed reduction was performed on his left distal wrist fracture and he was given a splint. About a week later, Ortega returned to the hospital and it was also determined that he also sustained a fracture of the right distal scaphoid. He continued to treat with Kaiser, and was referred for extensive occupational and physical therapy. The plaintiff’s orthopedic surgery expert opined that Ortega’s right wrist had fully resolved following the healing process, but that the left wrist still had a residual displacement and was a step off. The expert also opined that because Ortega had a pre-existing renal condition, Ortega was not a candidate for surgery and that Ortega will continue to have some level of pain for the rest of his life. Ortega, a 15-year veteran wire splicer for AT&T, testified that he had some difficulty working, but that he was able to carry out his duties despite his limitations. Ortega sought recovery of past and future medical costs, and damages for his past and future pain and suffering. The defense’s orthopedic surgery expert opined that all of Ortega’s treatment was reasonable and necessary, and he agreed that Ortega would not be a candidate for surgery due to his renal condition. However, the expert opined that Ortega should not be experiencing ongoing pain, considering the amount of displacement at the left wrist.