Mealey's Daubert
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February 14, 2024
Federal Judge Limits Expert Testimony In Construction Insurance Dispute
DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado granted in part a motion to strike expert testimony filed by one of several insurers accused by another insurer of shirking its responsibility to defend a construction company accused of causing damages to homes through faulty construction, limiting the testimony of two expert witnesses; the judge also granted a second motion to exclude the testimony of a third expert witness, finding his proffered opinions not sufficiently reliable.
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February 14, 2024
6th Circuit Finds No Error In Expert Exclusion That Ended Onglyza MDL
CINCINNATI — The federal judge presiding over the Onglyza multidistrict litigation “had three good reasons to find” that testimony by an expert retained to opine that the drug is capable of causing heart failure was inadmissible, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Feb. 13, affirming the final judgment entered in the case.
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February 14, 2024
No Error In Testimony From Expert On Reporting Delays By Sexually Abused Children
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota appeals court affirmed a man’s second-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction after finding that the trial court did not err in allowing an expert to opine on the reasons children might delay reporting sexual abuse.
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February 14, 2024
Magistrate Judge Denies Daubert Motions In Mislabeling Suit Against Rust-Oleum
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge denied a plaintiff’s and a defendant’s motions to disqualify each other’s expert witnesses in a class action against Rust-Oleum Corp. for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by deceptively labeling its KRUD KUTTER cleaning products as “non-toxic” and “Earth friendly.”
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February 13, 2024
Government Says Plaintiffs’ Expert In Hawaii Groundwater Case Should Be Excluded
HONOLULU — The U.S. government on Feb. 13 filed a reply brief in Hawaii federal court contending that it should reject the plaintiffs’ circular reasoning and exclude the reports and testimony of one of their experts under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 because he did not follow a traditional Bradford Hill analysis in the groundwater contamination suit filed by residents against the United States.
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February 13, 2024
Human Resources Expert Out In Discrimination, Retaliation Case Filed By Worker
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on Feb. 12 granted a seafood company’s motion to exclude testimony from an expert retained by a former employee who alleges discrimination and relation charges after finding that “[h]uman resources experts—despite being in a ‘non-scientific’ profession—are not immune from scrutiny under” Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
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February 09, 2024
No Exception To Expert Report Service Requirement, Texas Appeals Court Says
EASTLAND, Texas — A woman’s failure to properly serve a copy of her experts’ reports on the defendants in her medical malpractice suit as required under the Texas Medical Liability Act (TMLA) warrants the dismissal of her case, a Texas state appeals court ruled Feb. 8 in reversing a trial court.
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February 08, 2024
No Abuse Of Discretion In Excluding Expert In Crash Case, 2nd Circuit Rules
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 7 affirmed the dismissal of a man’s claim for negligence against United Parcel Service Inc. and one of its employees after a jury returned a defense verdict, finding no error in the court’s decision to exclude an expert witness.
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February 06, 2024
Expert On Forklift Safety Design Excluded; Manufacturer Wins Summary Judgment
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge granted summary judgment to a forklift manufacturer in a personal injury suit after finding that the expert retained by the injured man failed to provide reliable alternative designs that would have prevented the accident.
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February 06, 2024
IPhone Owners’ Experts Deemed Reliable; Antitrust Class Against Apple Certified
SAN FRANCISCO — Almost two years after a group of iPhone owners’ first attempt at class certification was denied, a California federal judge found that they had cured deficiencies in their experts’ testimony, leading her to conclude that the plaintiffs had now satisfied the predominance requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3), making class certification appropriate in an antitrust lawsuit against Apple Inc.
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February 02, 2024
Judge: Expert Out In Use Of Force Case, Testimony Unreliable And Prejudicial
ORLANDO, Fla. — Allowing a correctional expert retained by defendants in an excessive force case “to testify will infuse the trial with prejudice,” a Florida federal judge ruled, finding that the expert’s testimony is unreliable and unhelpful.
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February 02, 2024
Judge Limits Experts, Certifies Class Action For Deceptive ChapStick Label Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a motion to certify a class action asserting California unfair competition law (UCL) violations for deceptive labeling of certain ChapStick products and agreed to exclude dueling experts after finding their testimony irrelevant.
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February 02, 2024
Judge Says Experts Admissible Under Rule 403 But Orders Briefing Under Daubert
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge said experts in a personal injury suit opining on whether injuries from an accident caused a woman to fail an exam should not be excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 but ordered that a new motion be filed before trial addressing whether the testimony is admissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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February 02, 2024
Judge Sets Date For Change Of Plea After Deal Reached In $38M Care Home Fraud Case
MIAMI — After being advised that a plea agreement had been reached, a Florida federal judge on Feb. 1 issued docket-only orders setting a date for a sentencing and change of plea hearing for a man convicted of fraud, bribery and money laundering in a $38.7 million health care fraud scheme involving bribing physicians to have patients entered into the assisted living and skilled nursing facilities he owned.
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February 01, 2024
Flint Class, Engineering Firms Settle Water Contamination Claims For $25 Million
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The class plaintiffs in the Flint lead-contaminated water litigation have reached a $25 million settlement with three engineering firms that were involved in the decision to switch the city’s water supply to the Flint River, which resulted in the corrosion of pipes, causing lead to leach into local drinking water, a source told Mealey Publications on Feb. 1.
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January 31, 2024
HIV Expert Excluded In Cruise Ship Infection Case, Florida Federal Judge Rules
MIAMI — An HIV expert retained by a cruise company is barred from testifying in a suit brought by a woman who alleges that she contracted the virus during an emergency blood transfusion while aboard the vessel, a Florida federal judge ruled.
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January 29, 2024
Flint Plaintiffs Say Defense Expert’s Testimony Amounts To ‘Inadmissible Hearsay’
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation on Jan. 26 filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court seeking to exclude the testimony of an expert witness for three engineering firms that are on trial for their role in the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich. The plaintiffs argue that the expert’s previous testimony in the Flint bellwether trial, which is a separate action, constitutes “inadmissible hearsay” in the class action at hand.
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January 25, 2024
Damages Expert Admissible In Lanham Act Case For Aftermarket Pool Products
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An expert retained to opine on damages a company incurred due to consumer confusion about aftermarket products for a pool can testify after a North Carolina federal judge rejected two companies’ motion to exclude and ruled that their objections go to weight, not admissibility.
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January 25, 2024
Court: Expert Testimony Properly Allowed In Minnesota Sexual Misconduct Trial
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota appeals court affirmed a man’s conviction for two counts of criminal sexual conduct after finding no error in allowing expert testimony at his trial and rejecting the man’s other arguments on appeal.
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January 25, 2024
Indirect Purchasers’ Expert Out In Case Alleging Overcharging By Cheer Company
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge granted a motion to exclude an expert retained by parents of competitive cheer athletes who allege that they overpaid for cheer competitions and apparel, finding that while the expert is qualified to testify, his conclusions are irrelevant and unhelpful.
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January 24, 2024
Appeals Court: No Error In Medical Expert Exclusion In Nursing Home Care Case
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said it’s “not a close call” that an expert retained to testify in medical malpractice suit against a nursing home failed to establish a “familiarity with the standard of medical care in Memphis” and found no error in a district court excluding his testimony.
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January 23, 2024
1st Circuit: Expert Did Not Opine On Standard Of Care, Was Properly Excluded
BOSTON — After finding that an expert retained by the children of a woman who died after a surgery was properly excluded, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment grant to a group of doctors and a hospital in Puerto Rico in a negligence case.
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January 23, 2024
Louisiana Federal Judge Allows Safety Expert’s Testimony In Maritime Injury Suit
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a motion to exclude a maritime safety expert retained by a man who alleges that he was injured while disembarking from a dredging vessel, finding that the testimony is admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
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January 22, 2024
Part Of Expert Testimony Improperly Excluded But Court Finds No Reversible Error
LOS ANGELES — A trial court erred in excluding portions of an expert’s testimony for a woman who says she was injured in a slip-and-fall inside a Panda Express restaurant, but that error was harmless, a California appeals court said Jan. 19 in affirming summary judgment for the restaurant.
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January 19, 2024
Federal Magistrate: Trucking Expert Can Testify To Cause Of Multivehicle Crash
PENDLETON, Ore. — An expert retained by a man injured in car accident involving multiple vehicles is not required to consider every piece of evidence in formulating his opinions, and his failure to so does not render his testimony unreliable under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, a federal magistrate judge in Oregon ruled in denying a motion to exclude filed by two other drivers.