On Jan. 1, 2015, plaintiff Timothy Kuzmic, 47, an engineer, was watching football games with friends at Silky Sullivan’s Restaurant and Irish Pub, in Fountain Valley, where he had been a regular patron. After having spent several hours in the restaurant/bar, Kuzmic walked toward Amanda Leneker, a female bartender that he knew well, to tell her that she had won a football pool. However, Leneker hurriedly and unexpectedly jumped onto Kuzmic, causing him to take an awkward step with his left foot. Kuzmic claimed he sustained to his left foot. Kuzmic sued Silky Sullivan’s Restaurant and Irish Pub, and Leneker. Kuzmic alleged that Leneker was negligent for jumping onto him. He also alleged that Leneker was an agent of the bar and that Silky Sullivan’s was liable for Leneker’s actions. Leneker was ultimately dismissed from the case. Defense counsel contended that Leneker was hugging Kuzmic and that it was not negligent to hug a friend, as Leneker and Kuzmic knew each other. Thus, counsel argued that the incident was a freak accident and that Silky Sullivan’s was not negligent. The defense’s biomechanics expert testified that, based on his assessment of the incident, Kuzmic must have been drunk, which affected Kuzmic’s balance/coordination and caused him to take the awkward step that resulted in his injury., Kuzmic sustained a Lisfranc injury and complete dislocations of all five metatarsal bones from their joints in his left foot. He was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment, and ultimately underwent three separate surgical procedures as a result of the to his left foot. His first surgery was an open reduction and internal fixation, during which screws were placed, on Jan. 20, 2015. Kuzmic then underwent the surgical removal of the screws on Nov. 10, 2015. However, he later underwent another surgical removal on May 26, 2016, as one of the screws broke off and poked out through the bottom of his foot. Kuzmic claimed that he suffers from continued pain in his left foot and now walks with a limp. He alleged he has a restricted range of motion akin to walking in a ski boot. Kuzmic claimed that as a result, he will eventually need a fusion surgery to alleviate the pain in his foot and have the area fused. The plaintiff’s orthopedic surgery expert opined that Kuzmic will need the future fusion. The expert also opined that it would take a significant amount of force, such as the weight of another human, to put enough of an axial load on the foot to push the ankle down to dislocate the metatarsal bones in the same manner. Defense counsel disputed that Kuzmic would require any future surgery.