On April 24, 2010, at around noon, plaintiff Christopher Austin, 47, a self-employed cameraman who was a resident in Apartment 107 at the Fulcher Villas Apartment Complex, in Van Nuys, was involved in an altercation with another resident, Jason Sirota, who was moving out of Apartment 102. The verbal altercation took place in the courtyard of the complex. When the altercation turned physical, the two men fell to the ground. Mr. Viliami Finau, another resident at Fulcher Villas, witnessed the two men fighting on the ground. As a result, Finau lifted Austin, who was on top, off of Sirota. Austin claimed Finau lifted him by grabbing his right hand, causing a fracture of his right thumb. Austin sued the resident manager, Viliami Finau; the property owners, Ali Hatam (individually and as trustee of The Ali Hatam Family Trust), Zahra Hatam, and Franklin Management L.P.; and Viliami Finau’s supervisor, Mele Finau. Austin alleged that Mr. Finau was negligent for grabbing him and that Ms. Finau was negligent in the supervision of her employee/resident manager. Austin also alleged that Ali Hatam, Zahra Hatam, The Ali Hatam Family Trust and Franklin Management L.P. were joint-and-severally liable for the incident. Several of the defendants were dismissed, and the matter proceeded to trial against Mr. Finau only. Austin claimed that Mr. Finau was negligent for interfering in the altercation and attempting to lift him up by grabbing his right hand, thereby fracturing his right thumb. Defense counsel contended that Mr. Finau stopped the fight by lifting Austin off of the other resident, ensuring that the two men would not hurt each other further. Thus, counsel contended that Mr. Finau was acting as a Good Samaritan by stopping the fight. Mr. Finau also disputed Austin’s description of how he grabbed Austin. He testified that when he lifted Austin up, it was by putting both of his hands underneath Austin’s armpits, and hoisting Austin up and away from the other resident., Austin sustained an articular fracture of the right (dominant) thumb’s metacarpal at the carpometacarpal joint. He subsequently sought emergency room treatment three days after the accident. Fusion surgery was recommended by his treating physician, but Austin never underwent the surgery and had been dealing with his alleged pain for four years. Austin claimed that he could no longer hold or operate a camera and that at the time of the trial, he was still not able to work. Thus, Austin sought recovery of $6,700 in past medical expenses, $14,700 for future medical expenses, $26,250 in past wage loss and $140,000 in future lost wages. While it was agreed that Austin sustained a thumb fracture, defense counsel argued that Austin actually sustained the fracture during the physical altercation with Sirota and not from Mr. Finau pulling Austin off of Sirota. Although no evidence was presented showing that Austin injured his thumb in the fight, defense counsel argued that it was not possible to sustain a fracture by pulling on the thumb, as Austin claimed. The defense’s orthopedic surgery expert testified that an articular fracture of a thumb’s metacarpal is not caused by “pulling” on the thumb, as alleged by Austin. Instead, the expert testified that this kind of fracture is caused by blunt force to the hand, such as punching something or by falling down with your hands outstretched and catching yourself on your hands.