On Aug. 31, 2010, plaintiff Carolyn Bengtson, 52, a door-to-door saleswoman, was in a warehouse district off of Highway 280, in San Francisco, which commonly used pallets outside due to flooding in the area. As Bengtson stepped on a decaying pallet, she fell down and allegedly injured her lower back and hip. Bengtson sued the property’s lessee, San Francisco Supply Master Inc., which was doing business as Clean Master; and the properly owner and lessor, Cord Investment Co. Bengtson alleged the defendants failed to properly maintain the area, creating a dangerous condition. Cord Investment brought a cross-complaint against San Francisco Supply Master, seeking indemnification. Bengtson claimed she was walking down a staircase that used a wood pallet, made primarily of particle board, as the last step. However, she claimed that unbeknownst to her, the wood pallet was rotten and did not support her weight when she stepped on it, causing her to fall. Thus, Bengtson claimed the defendants failed to inspect and maintain a safe and secure area to walk on. San Francisco Supply Master claimed that its lease required Cord Investment to maintain the subject area. It also initially claimed that Cord Investment placed particle board over the top of pallet, which then decayed and gave way when Bengtson stepped on it. Cord Investment claimed that San Francisco Supply Master was actually the one who placed the pallet at the subject location and placed particle board over the top of it. However, Cord Investment alleged that the lease required San Francisco Supply Master to defend and indemnify it for any accidents relating to the business and that Cord Investment would just be listed as an additional insured. As a result, San Francisco Supply Master’s insurance carrier insured both San Francisco Supply Master and Cord Investment under a 1.5 million policy, while Cord Investment’s insurer carried an additional $11 million in excess insurance., Bengtson claimed the accident caused to her lower back and hip. Although she did not have any immediate symptoms for several weeks, she ultimately saw a chiropractor three weeks after the accident with complaints of lower back pain. Bengtson acknowledged that she had a long history of chronic lower back pain, but claimed her fall aggravated her pre-existing condition. Over the next four years, she underwent a lumbar fusion at the L4-5 level and two hip replacements. The plaintiff’s treating surgeons agreed that Bengtson had pre-existing degenerative problems, but they opined that the accident aggravated Bengtson’s condition and led to the surgeries. The physicians also opined that Bengtson would eventually need another lumbar surgery and that Bengtson would require a bilateral sacroiliac joint fusion and another replacement of both hips during her lifetime. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Bengtson $6 million in damages, including $1.6 million in special damages and the rest in general damages. Bengtson had all of her expenses covered by workers’ compensation, resulting in a workers’ compensation lien of about 300,000, but the jury was not made aware of this information. Defense counsel argued that Bengtson’s alleged were not caused by her fall and noted that during cross-examination, the plaintiff’s treating physicians admitted that neither of them had reviewed all of Bengtson’s prior medical records. Thus, defense counsel argued that if the jury doesn’t render a verdict in favor of both defendants, it should only award Bengtson $16,000 in damages to be paid by San Francisco Supply Master and render a defense verdict for Cord Investment.