In April 2011, plaintiff Timothy Jerry, 52, a procurement agent for Boeing, was looking at a lawn mower on an elevated display at a Home Depot, in Torrance, when the mower’s handle suddenly fell forward and hit him on the top of the head. Jerry claimed an injury to his cervical spine. Jerry sued Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. and a store employee, Jason Oaks. Jerry alleged the defendants failed to properly maintain the lawn mower display, creating a dangerous condition. It was ultimately determined that while Oaks was a store manager when the case was filed, he was not a manager at the time of the accident. Thus, Oaks was dismissed from the case prior to the start of trial. Jerry’s counsel contended that Home Depot was negligent for allowing the lawn mower handle to be loose, such that it fell and struck Jerry on the top of the head. Counsel contended that, instead, Home Depot should have complied with its own training manual, which required lawn mower handles to be secured or tied back for safety. Defense counsel presented evidence that there had been no prior incidents related to lawn mower handles at Home Depot. Thus, defense counsel argued that Home Depot was not negligent., Jerry declined medical treatment and finished his shopping after he reported the incident to a Home Depot employee. However, he claimed he suffered debilitating headaches and neck pain following the accident, through November 2012, when he underwent a disc replacement surgery at C6-7. Jerry claimed he missed six weeks of work, but eventually returned full-time in January 2013. However, the plaintiff’s experts opined that Jerry would require at least one other disc replacement or fusion surgery, at an estimated cost of $100,000. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award Jerry approximately $36,000 in past medical expenses, approximately $13,000 for six weeks of wage loss, approximate $100,000 in future medical expenses, and approximately $1 million for Jerry’s past and future pain and suffering. Jerry’s wife, Carolyn Jerry, presented a derivative claim, seeking recovery of damages for her loss of consortium due to her husband’s . Defense counsel disputed whether Jerry suffered any injury from the alleged accident. Counsel challenged the medical causation claims, arguing that the force of the handle was so minor that it could not have caused Mr. Jerry any injury. Thus, defense counsel argued Mr. Jerry’s surgery was unrelated to the accident.