Causation experts stricken; manfuacturer wins summary judgment.

June 9, 2015

rangePlaintiffs sued Whirlpool, alleging that a gas range it manufactured made them sick from carbon monoxide emissions.  They offered two causation experts, whose testimony was stricken by the district court under Daubert, which the Fifth Circuit affirmed.  The first opined about the “general causation” link connection between carbon monoxide and health problems, but the main studies he relied on involved significantly higher concentrations than what was measured in Plainitffs’ apartment.  The second, an “accomplished engineer with significant expertise in vehicular accident reconstruction and fire and explosion analysis,” did not have expertise on the issue in this case: “No gas appliance fire is at issue in this case; rather, the core claim here is that the gas range was defective because it emitted carbon monoxide in excess of an amount that is safe.”  Macy v. Whirlpool Corp., No. 14-20603 (June 4, 2015, unpublished).

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