On Aug. 27, 2014, plaintiff Donald Wood, 60, an independent contractor, was hired by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to retrieve and remove railroad crossing towers from its downtown property for salvage or sale at auction. When Wood arrived with his truck, flatbed trailer and crew, he found there was no crane available for the loading operation, so he had a transit system employee, Larry Plummer, load the selected towers onto the trailer with a forklift. After successfully loading some items onto the flatbed, Wood secured one side of a crossing tower to the forklift with chains while Plummer secured the other. Wood then jumped onto the trailer as the load was in progress so that he could specifically direct Plummer’s placement of the tower onto the trailer. However, while the tower was being lowered onto the trailer, the chains used to secure the tower began to slide off of the forklift. Wood jumped off his trailer to avoid being struck, but he lost his footing and landed on the ground adjacent to a nearby, small utility trailer. The crossing tower fell onto Wood’s flatbed trailer and then onto the ground, where it rolled up against Wood’s left side. Wood claimed to his left leg, neck and back. Wood sued the Plummer and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, alleging negligence and violations of California Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. Wood claimed that Plummer lacked the appropriate Cal/OSHA certification concerning forklift operation and that the transit system promised to provide a crane for his loading operation, but failed to ensure the crane was present on the date of the job. Defense counsel contended that Wood was in a position of control because he was hired as an independent contractor to complete the job. Counsel also contended that Wood directed Plummer’s actions and that Wood was in the best position to assess the risks associated with the task. Defense counsel argued that if Plummer was found negligent, then it was due to the direction of Wood, who should also be found negligent., Wood was diagnosed with a hematoma of the left flank, lumbar scrapes and contusions, and right-sided transverse process fractures at L1 and L2. Wood was taken to a hospital after the accident and released the following day. With the exception of a few visits to his healthcare providers at a Veterans’ Affairs facility in Long Beach, he did not seek any medical treatment for his for nearly six months. He then underwent two surgeries on the lumbar spine; one by a neurosurgeon in July 2015 and the second by the plaintiff’s treating orthopedic surgeon in March 2016. This treating orthopedic expert also performed a fusion surgery on the cervical spine at C5-6 in January 2016. All three surgeries were performed on a lien basis. Wood returned to work within one month of the accident. However, he claimed his prevented him from being able to get his auction business off the ground and that because of his age, he had been unable to return to meaningful employment. Wood sought recovery of $394,000 in past medical costs, $300,000 in past lost earnings, $450,000 to $1.5 million in future lost earnings, and $969,000 to $1,252,000 in future medical costs. He also sought recovery of damages for his past and future pain and suffering. In total, he asked the jury to award more than $10.1 million in damages. Defense counsel noted Wood’s limited post-accident treatment and argued that Wood’s resolved within six to eight weeks of the accident. Counsel also argued that Wood’s surgeries were the result of long-standing degenerative conditions, for which he sought treatment on a regular basis for nearly 1.5 years before the subject accident. Counsel further contended that an MRI taken 14 months before the accident, in comparison to an MRI taken nine months after the accident, confirmed that there was no change in Wood’s spine and that there was no objective evidence of an aggravation of Wood’s pre-existing degenerative condition. In addition, defense counsel presented surveillance footage of Wood, which allegedly contradicted plaintiff’s counsel’s assertions that Wood’s severely and dramatically limited his abilities to function on a daily basis. Defense counsel contended that Wood returned to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System property within one month of the accident and continued to service its surplus equipment account for the next six months. Counsel contended that Wood retrieved and sold 86 buses and vehicles during that time, but that he did not return the proceeds to the transit system. Defense counsel further contended that Wood’s bank records confirmed the transit system’s asset sales and that Wood continued to work and make a substantial income for nearly two years following the accident.