In June 2010, plaintiff Arthur Martin, 68, was driving his Toyota Camry with his wife, plaintiffs’ decedent Elinor Martin, 67, a law librarian, seated in the front seat. The Martin vehicle was traveling on southbound Whittier Boulevard, in Beverly Hills, while a 26,000-pound flatbed truck, which was carrying a forklift and operated by David Rose, was traveling on westbound Sunset Boulevard. Both drivers believed they had a green light at the intersection of Whittier Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. Consequently, the truck impacted the Camry on the driver’s side and pushed it across the intersection. Mr. Martin sustained to his face, chest and thigh, while Mrs. Martin ultimately died from her . Mr. Martin and his two adult sons sued Rose and Rose’s employer, HD Supply Construction Supply Ltd. (doing business as HD Supply White Cap Construction Supply and erroneously named as “White Cap Construction Supply Inc.”). The Martin family alleged that Rose was negligent in the operation of the flatbed truck and that HD Supply was liable for Rose’s actions during the course and scope of his employment. The Martin family also sued the city of Beverly Hills, Alberto Elenes, and Cap Construction Supply Inc. However, the city settled out of the case prior to trial, and Elenes and Cap Construction were ultimately dismissed from the case. Thus, the matter continued against Rose and HD Supply only. Mr. Martin admitted that he could not say whether his light turned green, but he claimed he did see that the other light, for Rose’s direction of travel, was yellow and about to turn red. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Rose ran a red light and negligently entered the intersection. Defense counsel noted that Mr. Martin testified that he was not looking to the left — the direction that Rose was traveling from — as Mr. Martin was watching the cross traffic signal to his right. Counsel also noted that Mr. Martin was uncertain of the color of his light. Thus, defense counsel contended that Mr. Martin was negligent for “jumping the light” and illegally entering the intersection. The plaintiffs’ and defense accident reconstruction expert provided conflicting opinions regarding who ran the red light based on the evidence., Both Mr. and Mrs. Martin were transported to a hospital via ambulance. Mr. Martin sustained fractures to his ribs, bruises, lacerations on his face, and a bruise to his thigh. His fully resolved within four to five weeks. However, he claimed he still suffers emotional distress. Mrs. Martin sustained multiple trauma during the accident and ultimately pronounced dead at the hospital. The coroner indicated that her cause of death was due to blunt force trauma. Mr. Martin and his sons, Jeremy Martin, a 40-year-old Mathematics Professor in Kansas, and Jonathan Martin, a 35-year-old computer programmer in New York, sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of Mrs. Martin’s care, comfort and company, as well as for their loss of Mrs. Martin’s support, as she worked part-time as a law librarian and allegedly would have continued working indefinitely. As a result, the Martin family alleged $350,000 in lost income and $180,000 in lost Social Security benefits. The parties stipulated to medical damages and funeral expenses of $30,963. In addition, Mr. Martin testified that before he blacked out from the accident, he looked over to his right and saw bubbles appear out of his wife’s mouth. He claimed that since he witnessed his wife die in front of him, Rose’s actions constituted a negligent infliction of emotional distress damages (Dillon v. Legg). Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award the Martin family in excess of $29 million in total damages. Defense counsel noted that Mrs. Martin’s sons had no children and no other siblings and that they saw their mother once or twice throughout the year, specifically at holidays and family events. Thus, defense counsel suggested that the jury award only $681,000 in total damages.