On July 5, 2011, at approximately 5 p.m., plaintiff Sharon Patterson, 63, a program support director for Prison Fellowship International, was at Trattoria Volare Cafe in San Francisco. While leaving the restroom on her way out of the restaurant, Patterson tripped and fell over a single step. She suffered a fracture to her right humerus. Patterson sued Volare Investors LLC, which was doing business as Trattoria Volare Cafe. Patterson alleged the defendant negligently maintained and/or repaired the step, creating a dangerous condition. She also alleged the defendant failed to warn of this dangerous condition. Patterson contended that the single step on the restaurant’s tile floor was difficult to visualize, since the tiles on the step rung in the same direction as the floor, creating an optical illusion. She claimed Volare Investors should have used a different color for the step or used some type of marker/indicator to warn of the step’s existence. Volare Investors claimed the step was open and obvious, and did not constitute a dangerous condition. It also claimed that there was a warning for the step in the form of three distinct signs — one on each side of the bathroom door and one adjacent to the door — which said to watch your step. Thus, defense counsel argued that Patterson was at least comparatively at fault for failing to pay attention., Patterson sustained a fracture of her right, dominant humerus. Her daughter subsequently took her from the restaurant to the emergency room, where Patterson initially had her right arm placed in a sling. However, when the fracture failed to close, she underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery on Nov. 9, 2011. Patterson also underwent physical therapy both before and after the surgery. Patterson claimed the surgery failed due to a non-union of the bone, resulting in a second surgery on Sept. 11, 2012. She claimed that while the fracture healed after the second procedure, the weight of the hardware causes her difficulty in raising her right arm, which has semi-restricted her everyday life. Thus, Patterson sought recovery of $60,000 (post-Howell) in past medical costs, $25,767 in past lost earnings for time off from work during her treatment/recovery, and an unspecified amount of damages for her pain and suffering. Defense counsel did not dispute the severity of Patterson’s fracture, but argued that Patterson failed to mitigate her damages by only wearing the sling half the time. Counsel contended that Patterson was ordered by her treating physician to wear the sling a majority of the time and that Patterson’s failure to comply may have prevented the fracture from closing. Defense counsel further disputed Patterson’s claim of past lost earnings. Counsel argued that $15,353 was a more accurate figure for Patterson’s lost wages, since Patterson was already paid for a portion of her time off.