On Nov. 4, 2013, plaintiff Scott Nunes, 42, a former gym manager and automobile mechanic, answered a Craig’s List ad posted to the public by Josh McKinney, a general contractor who was doing business as Vision Builders. The contractor was performing demolition work on an office suite located at 4150 Mission Blvd., in Pacific Beach. McKinney advertised free commercial windows and other items that were left over from the demolition work, and noted that whoever wanted the items had to haul away the items themselves. As a result, Nunes arrived at the construction site to remove certain items. After removing some items, Nunes started to move a very large and heavy set of metal framed, interior office windows with the assistance of two of the contractor’s construction workers. However, as the windows were being carried away, one of the contractor’s workers knocked part of the metal frame loose, causing the windows to fall and strike Nunes’ right hand and wrist. Nunes sued Josh McKinney, who was doing business as Vision Builders. Nunes alleged that McKinney’s employee was negligent in the movement of the windows and that McKinney was liable for his employee’s actions. Vision Builders Group Inc. was initially named as a defendant, but it was dismissed once it was discovered that McKinney was doing business as Vision Builders. The owner of the office building, Promenade Mall Development Corp.; the tenant whose offices were undergoing the demolition and remodeling work, Lost Ark Studio; and the owner of Lost Ark Studio, Paul Cavanaugh, were also listed as defendants, but they were ultimately all dismissed from the case for waivers of costs before trial. Thus, the matter continued against McKinney only. McKinney’s defense counsel denied that McKinney’s employees were negligent. Counsel contended that Nunes tripped and fell in a stairwell and that Nunes dropped the windows himself, causing his own . However, plaintiff’s counsel noted that McKinney’s employees were homeless laborers who were not able to attend trial and that defense counsel presented no witnesses to corroborate McKinney’s claim of how Nunes was injured., The window frame seriously gashed Nunes’ right, dominant hand and wrist, causing a laceration of the radial nerve. He also sustained a crushing injury to his right wrist. He was subsequently taken to the emergency room at Palomar Medical Center Escondido, where his wound was cleaned and sutured. However, Nunes claimed his wrist injury resulted in traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome. As a result, Nunes treated with a hand specialist, who performed surgeries on Nunes’ severed radial nerve and injured carpal tunnel on Oct. 7, 2014. Nunes last saw the hand specialist in 2015, and then began follow up exams with the plaintiff’s hand surgery expert, Dr. David Kupfer. Nunes claimed that he will continue to have residual complaints, including right hand pain, loss of grip strength, tingling, and numbness for the remainder of his life. He alleged that as a result, he will require future surgeries on his right hand and wrist. The plaintiff’s treating hand surgery expert, Kupfer, opined that Nunes will require additional surgeries to treat the radial nerve and carpal tunnel, and to address Nunes’ residual complaints. Thus, during closing arguments, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Nunes over $380,000, including $34,119.15 in past medical costs, $13,000 in future medical costs, and an unspecified amount of damages for Nunes’ past and future pain and suffering. Nunes waived any claim for past or future lost earnings. Defense counsel agreed that all of Nunes’ , treatments and bills, past and future, were reasonable and causally related to the incident. As such, defense counsel accepted the testimony of the plaintiff’s treating hand surgery expert and elected to not call his retained expert at trial. However, defense counsel argued that Nunes caused his own during the incident.