On Dec. 18, 2010, plaintiff Jodi Cook, a corporate recruiter in her 40s, stepped into a single bathroom located in the back area of Havana restaurant, next to the kitchen and bar area, in Walnut Creek. As her right foot stepped into the women’s restroom, her left foot slipped out from under her. Cook claimed to her left wrist and right shoulder. Cook sued the restaurant’s operator, JZ Restaurants LLC; an owner of the restaurant, Zachary Scott; and Crete Werx East Bay LLC. Cook alleged the defendants failed to properly maintain the area, creating a dangerous condition. Crete Werx never answered the complaint, and was ultimately removed from the case. Cook claimed that there was an oily substance on the bathroom floor and that there was also water and debris that had been tracked into the restroom from the area located just outside of the women’s restroom. She also claimed that there were rubber mats leading to the restroom because it was so wet in that area outside the restroom. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that the restaurant floor outside the restroom had been previously redone and that Scott admitted that in the prior nine months before the accident, he had knowledge, and received 15 complaints, of women in high heels slipping in the restaurant area, including the area outside of the women’s restroom. Plaintiff’s counsel called presented testimony from a former manager, who had recently been terminated, who claimed there were problems not only with the restaurant floor, but with the floor area just outside the women’s restroom. The former manager testified that the problems included water from the bar and kitchen pooling on the floor by the women’s restroom, as well as debris coming from the kitchen and bar area. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that the owner’s wife even testified that she slipped on the restaurant floor a number of times. In addition, counsel called a witness, a female in her 20s, who testified that three months before Cook fell, she slipped and fell in the restroom, which had an oily, greasy substance on the floor. Defense counsel noted that after Cook reported the incident, the manager went in to investigate the area, but did not observe anything on the floor of the bathroom. The defense’s accident reconstruction expert testified about the surface of floor in the restroom and the lack of slip resistance of the shoes Cook was wearing on the night of the accident., Cook claimed she suffered a rotator cuff injury of her right shoulder, as well as an aggravation of a prior right scapula/shoulder injury, which she sustained in November 2008 and which she claimed was almost resolved prior to the subject fall. She claimed her caused a winged scapula, which is when the shoulder blade sticks out. In addition, she sustained a triangular fibrocartilage tear of the left wrist. Cook subsequently presented to Urgent Care the following day and initially had trigger point injections to treat both her wrist and shoulder. However, she eventually had surgeries to both her wrist and shoulder. In April 2012, Cook underwent surgery on her left wrist to remove adhesions and scar tissue resulting from the trauma due to the fall. In November 2012, she had the bursa removed in the right scapula area and had rotator cuff repair in the right shoulder. Cook claimed there was improvement with the left wrist, but the right shoulder symptoms were not relieved by the surgery. She alleged that she continues to suffer unrelenting pain in the right shoulder/upper arm area and in the chest area, below the right shoulder. She alleged that as a result, she is incapacitated from working as a corporate recruiter, which she did from home, as well as from performing her daily activities. Thus, Cook claimed that her medical bills from Kaiser amounted to $67,000 and her wage loss to date amounted to $85,000. She also sought recovery of damages for her pain and suffering. Defense counsel conceded as to Cook’s wrist injury and surgery, but argued that Cook’s shoulder surgery was unrelated to the subject accident. Counsel contended that Cook had sustained a prior right shoulder injury and that Cook would have probably needed future treatment for her right shoulder anyway.