On Nov. 11, 2009, plaintiff Hugh Suhr, 47, an independent investor, was at a Sears in Bakersfield when he fell backward and struck the back of his head on the tiled floor. Joseph Etienne, acting as Suhr’s guardian ad litem, sued Sears, Roebuck and Co. He alleged that the defendant’s failure to properly maintain the tiled floor, created a dangerous condition. Suhr’s mother claimed the fall occurred next to a lotion display stand, where there were several bottles of leaking fluid. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel contended that there was a foreign substance on the ground and that Sears allowed the substance to exist for some time. The plaintiff’s liability/safety engineering expert opined that because of the items on the lotion display stand, Sears should have placed a mat around the display stand and that failure to do so was negligent. The expert also opined that the absence of a mat allowed the foreign substance to accumulate and exist when it fell. In addition, the plaintiff’s biomechanical and human factors experts opined that the evidence of surveillance video, photographs and witness statements indicated that Suhr’s mechanics were consistent with a slip on some type of foreign substance. Defense counsel contended that there was no substance on the ground at the location of Suhr’s fall. Instead, counsel noted that a number of eyewitnesses to the fall testified that Suhr had a fainting episode or a seizure. Counsel also noted that Suhr told the responding emergency medical technicians and an emergency room doctor that he saw later that day that he was dizzy from taking his obsessive compulsive disorder medication, which he was diagnosed with some 15 years prior, and that he simply fell. Thus, defense counsel argued that Suhr’s fainting or seizure could have been attributable to the medications he was taking for his OCD. Defense counsel further contended that a multiple of witnesses, including emergency medical technicians, fire department personnel, two customers and several store employees, did not recall seeing anything at the scene that could have caused the fall. Counsel also noted that of all the witnesses, the only person who recalled seeing anything on the ground was Suhr’s mother., Emergency personnel were contacted immediately after the incident and Suhr was rushed to a hospital where a CT scan was taken. It was discovered that Suhr sustained a severe traumatic brain injury to the left frontal lobe and moderate traumatic brain to the right frontal lobe and left temporal lobe of his brain. Multiple MRIs, CT scans and PET scans taken later also confirmed the brain . Conservative treatment was attempted, but due to severe swelling, Suhr underwent an emergency craniotomy two days later on Nov. 13, 2009. During the procedure, doctors cut away a large portion of Suhr’s skull and removed a “golf-ball” sized portion of the brain tissue in the left temporal lobe. The procedure saved Suhr’s life, but he was now required to wear a helmet for the next six months, until his neurosurgeon performed a cranioplasty to replace the portion of Suhr’s skull that had been removed during the first surgery. Suhr developed a number of different problems after the fall, as he was left with severe mental deficits and other medical complications. He developed a post-traumatic seizure disorder and had over 20 seizures between the date of the incident and the trial. As a result, he was hospitalized at over 12 different hospitals over 2.5 years for unanticipated seizures. Suhr also lost his sense of smell and taste and he can no longer drive. Most critically, the damage to the brain’s frontal lobes, which govern the “executive functions” of a human being, or the ability to think independently and demonstrate common sense, severely diminished Suhr’s ability to care for himself and act rationally. As a result, his friends, family members and colleagues testified to multiple accounts of Suhr’s diminished capacity. Suhr was previously diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety in 1993. However, he claimed that continues to seek care from a neurologist and a psychiatrist because his brain caused depression and exacerbated his previous OCD condition. Plaintiff’s counsel called over 20 different medical personnel and retained experts, including physiatrists, neurologists, neuro-radiologists, neuropsychologists, neuropsychiatrists, nuclear medicine doctors and several others. These experts collectively confirmed that Suhr had severe deficits as a consequence of the brain , these deficits were permanent and would likely worsen over time, and that Suhr would need attendant care for the remainder of his life. As a result, plaintiff’s counsel presented the jury with a $3.1 million life care plan, which included life-long attendant care. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Suhr $15 million in total damages, which included $3.5 million in past non-economic damages and $7.5 million for future non-economic damages. The defense’s medical experts did not dispute the nature or extent of Suhr’s , the seizure disorder, the loss of smell and taste, or the diminished capacity that he suffered from. However, the experts believed that Suhr could avoid the need for attendant care if he underwent cognitive therapy, as this would teach him to cope with his limitations and eventually allow him to operate independently.