Plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence claiming she suffered physical injuries when the yoga instructors positioned her body and spine to help her get into a yoga position. In moving for summary judgment, defendant submitted an expert declarations stating that the yoga instructor had acted in accordance with the standard of care among yoga instructors and stating that the injuries plaintiff suffered were due to degenerative arthritis, not the instructors’ actions. Plaintiff submitted no expert declarations in opposition. Even if the jury could have disbelieved the defendant’s experts, the plaintiff still bore the burden of proof on compliance with a standard of care and causation of damage. Here, plaintiff could not establish either element solely from her own testimony. Whether the yoga instructor met the applicable standard of care was not a matter within a juror’s common experience, nor was the causation of plaintiff’s physical injury. Plaintiff’s medical records did not show that any doctor had concluded that her injuries were caused by the yoga instructor’s actions, but only recorded the plaintiff’s own conclusions to that effect.
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 1 (Bendix, J.); July 31, 2018; 26 Cal. App. 5th 284