On Jan. 22, 2016, plaintiff Spero Saridakis, 60, a recently hired aeronautics instructor for City College of San Francisco, was on his way to a fenced-off tarmac, near the San Francisco Airport, where a helicopter was located. He was on his way to teach on his fourth day of employment, but as he was walking on the asphalt tarmac, he tripped and fell. Saridakis claimed to his back. Saridakis sued City College of San Francisco and the owner of the property where City College’s Aeronautics Department and the tarmac were located, the city and county of San Francisco. Saridakis claimed that there was a considerable amount of debris and overgrown weeds on the tarmac and that his foot became snagged on a hidden 3-foot-long cable, which had become entangled in the weeds due to years of neglect. He contended that weeds had grown over the asphalt for several years, such that the weeds had taken root in cracks in the asphalt, and that neither City College nor the city of San Francisco had maintained the particular area for several years. Defense counsel asserted that Saridakis was comparatively negligent in that Saridakis failed to take due care to safely walk through an area he observed to be populated by grass and weeds., Saridakis claimed that the trauma from the fall aggravated his asymptomatic spinal stenosis, resulting in cord compression and cauda equina syndrome. He also claimed incontinence, drop foot, impotence and depression. Saridakis sought treatment within 10 days of the incident and ultimately required four surgeries at Stanford University Medical Center, in Stanford. The surgeries were performed over a period of 18 months, with the first surgery performed on the T11-12, T12-L1, L1-2 and L2-3 levels in February 2016. The second and third surgeries consisted of anterior and posterior lumbar fusions at the L3-4 and L4-5 levels and were performed in June 2016. The fourth surgery was then performed as a result of an injury to the abdominal muscles during the anterior fusion. Saridakis claimed that he suffers from consistent pain, difficulty walking, drop foot, impotence, and feelings of hopelessness and depression. He also claimed he suffers from a permanent loss of strength to his lower extremities, and a permanent loss of bowel and bladder control. He alleged that as a result, he is unemployable. The plaintiff’s expert life care planner, in conjunction with the plaintiff’s physical medicine expert, prepared an extensive life care plan that states that Saridakis requires medical and psychological treatment for life. The experts estimated that Saridakis’ future medical costs, at present value, would total 1.2 million. Saridakis sought recovery of $600,000 in past medical costs, $1.2 million in future medical costs, and $900,000 in past and future wage loss. He also sought recovery of damages for his past and future pain and suffering. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that Saridakis previously presented a workers’ compensation claim, but City College of San Francisco denied that he was an employee and followed up with several emails advising him that he was not an employee. However, in October 2017, one month before the case was initially set to start trial, prior counsel for City College wrote Saridakis stating that City College had reassessed his workers’ compensation claim and that it was now prepared to proceed with workers’ compensation. Based on City College’s response, plaintiff’s counsel filed a motion in limine, prior to trial, to prevent the defendants from arguing workers’ compensation exclusivity. However, when the case was actually assigned to trial, the defendants’ prior counsel withdrew and the trial was held over until February 2018, during which time the case was sent to Judge Charlene Kiesselbach for all purposes. Kiesselbach vacated the trial date and reset the motion to be heard on the workers’ compensation issue. The matter was extensively briefed, and Kiesselbach ruled that the defendants’ initial attorneys had failed to plead exclusivity in the answer to the complaint and, therefore, had waived that defense. Defense counsel contended that Saridakis had been involved in an automobile accident in 2013, resulting in cervical myelopathy and two level cervical fusions. Counsel asserted that Saridakis’ weakness and incontinence was because of that prior accident and that Saridakis’ MRIs showed that he had severe spinal stenosis in his lumbar area, which was allegedly the cause of his eventual spinal cord .