Source: http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/470/48/635172/
Timestamp: 2017-09-21 12:28:18
Document Index: 41382491

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1926', '§ 1926', 'art 1926', '§ 1910', 'art 1926', '§ 1910', '§ 1926', '§ 1910', '§ 1926', '§ 1910', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1910', '§ 1926']

Gary D. Pelletier, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Main Street Textiles, Lp; Tyng Textiles, Llc; Charles Mcansin Associates, Lp; Mcdonna, Llc; Joan Fabrics Corporation, Defendants, Appellees, 470 F.3d 48 (1st Cir. 2006) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › First Circuit › 2006 › Gary D. Pelletier, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Main Street Textiles, Lp; Tyng Textiles, Llc; Charles Mc...
Gary D. Pelletier, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Main Street Textiles, Lp; Tyng Textiles, Llc; Charles Mcansin Associates, Lp; Mcdonna, Llc; Joan Fabrics Corporation, Defendants, Appellees, 470 F.3d 48 (1st Cir. 2006)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - 470 F.3d 48 (1st Cir. 2006)
Heard September 7, 2006
Michael A. Fitzhugh, with whom Barbara L. Horan and Fitzhugh, Parker & Alvaro, LLP were on brief, for appellees.
In January 2003, Pelletier filed a complaint in the federal district court in Massachusetts against Main Street and related corporate entities under diversity jurisdiction. The complaint alleged that Pelletier's accident was the result of the defendants' negligence and sought compensatory damages.1
Finally, Main Street denied having or exercising any control over Three D's rigging methods and thus any responsibility for the safety of those methods. As to the issue of overhead guards, Main Street asserted that it met whatever responsibility it had because it had raised the issue with Three D, and that it had no responsibility to act directly to prevent the use of forklifts without guards. In any event, the forklift that Pelletier was using had no guard because it was generally being used in an area without sufficient clearance for a guard; Main Street asserted that it had no reason to suspect that Pelletier would use that forklift in an area with greater clearance.
On May 5, 2005, the jury returned a verdict for the defendants, finding no negligence. On May 31, 2005, Pelletier filed a motion for a new trial, on three grounds. Pelletier argued that the district court had erred: (1) in excluding two OSHA regulations, 29 C.F.R. § 1926.20(b) (2) and (3), that provided safety standards for construction work; (2) in refusing to conduct a voir dire with his safety engineering expert in order to determine the relevance of the proffered OSHA regulations; and (3) in limiting that expert's testimony and refusing to allow the expert to testify about industry customs and practices of safety.
As for the limitation on the safety expert's testimony, the court explained that Pelletier's new trial motion argued that the expert "would have testified only as to industry custom and practices in general," but "during trial plaintiff's counsel proposed that [the expert] be permitted to testify with respect to which OSHA regulations were relevant to safety at the Old Mill." The court stated that it had precluded the expert from providing such testimony because it would have usurped the court's function in instructing the jury on the law. The court noted that Pelletier had then suggested that his expert "be allowed to testify about which industry customs and practices relating to safety had been violated at the Old Mill." Because the expert "had never visited the Old Mill" and had apparently based his opinions on deposition testimony and preliminary expert reports about the accident, the court found that his opinion "would have been based upon insufficient facts or data and, therefore, was inadmissible pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 702." Finally, the court found that the proposed evidence and testimony were "unlikely to have affected the outcome of the trial."
We review rulings on the admission of evidence for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Guerrier, 428 F.3d 76, 79 (1st Cir. 2005). Moreover, we "disregard any error or defect in the proceeding which does not affect the substantial rights of the parties." Fed. R. Civ. P. 61; see also Kelley v. Airborne Freight Corp., 140 F.3d 335, 346 (1st Cir. 1998). Thus, even if an evidentiary ruling is erroneous, we will not disturb the jury's verdict "if it is highly probable that the error did not affect the outcome of the case." McDonough v. City of Quincy, 452 F.3d 8, 19-20 (1st Cir. 2006).
At trial, Pelletier sought to introduce a number of OSHA regulations, as well as Massachusetts Building Code regulations. The district court admitted some of those regulations, but excluded two at issue here: 29 C.F.R. § 1926.20(b) (2) and (3). These two regulations state in their entirety:
The district court found that Pelletier had not laid an adequate foundation for the introduction of these regulations; we see no abuse of discretion in the court's ruling. The challenged regulations appear in Part 1926 of 29 C.F.R., entitled "Safety and Health Regulations for Construction." 29 C.F.R. § 1910.12(a) provides that "[t]he standards prescribed in Part 1926 of this chapter . . . shall apply . . . to every employment and place of employment of every employee engaged in construction work." "Construction work" is defined to be "work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating." 29 C.F.R. § 1910.12(b). The § 1926 regulations would thus only have been relevant if Pelletier was an "employee engaged in construction work." Id. § 1910.12(a). Pelletier failed to establish an evidentiary basis for such a finding.
Pelletier argues that an adequate foundation was laid through the testimony of James Brown, Main Street's safety manager, and the testimony of Paula Vaccaro, the OSHA inspector who investigated the accident. Brown, however, testified merely that he "considered it [a] construction site," and he indicated that he "was not as familiar with" § 1926. The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding Brown's testimony insufficient to establish that the old mill was a construction site within the meaning of the OSHA regulations. Similarly, Vaccaro issued OSHA citations, but she did so on the basis of § 1910, the general regulations applicable to all industries, rather than the § 1926 construction regulations. Vaccaro testified that she "strictly did [§ ]1910" investigations and that the conditions at the old mill had not prompted her to "inquir[e] as to whether or not Main Street had violated the construction code, [§ ]1926." Thus, Vaccaro's testimony did not establish a foundation for the admission of the § 1926 regulations.
Moreover, the exclusion of the § 1926 regulations did not affect Pelletier's "substantial rights." See Fed. R. Civ. P. 61. Other OSHA regulations and Main Street's own safety policies were admitted, and both of these established a standard of care that was substantially similar to the standard established in the excluded regulations. Main Street's safety policy specifically provided that the safety director was responsible for "[i]nspections" to ensure "compliance with OSHA safety laws and regulations." This essentially captured the requirement in 29 C.F.R. § 1926.20(b) (2) of "frequent and regular inspections of the job sites, materials, and equipment."
Similarly, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.178(p) (1), which was admitted at trial, provides that "[i]f at any time a powered industrial truck is found to be in need of repair, defective, or in any way unsafe, the truck shall be taken out of service until it has been restored to safe operating condition." Since the forklift, a powered industrial truck, was the only piece of "machinery, tool, material, or equipment" that Pelletier had alleged was unsafe, the requirement in 29 C.F.R. § 1926.20(b) (3) to render all such unsafe equipment inoperable or to physically remove such equipment would have been superfluous.
As to testimony about the OSHA regulations, the general rule is that it is the judge's role, not a witness's, to instruct the jury on the law. See Nieves-Villanueva v. Soto-Rivera, 133 F.3d 92, 99 (1st Cir. 1997). A district court has broad discretion to exclude expert opinion evidence about the law that would impinge on the roles of the judge and the jury. See N. Heel Corp. v. Compo Indus., Inc., 851 F.2d 456, 468 (1st Cir. 1988). For this reason, and to avoid jury confusion, the district court in this case acted well within its discretion in excluding expert testimony about the applicability of OSHA regulations to Main Street.
Pelletier cites cases in which experts were permitted to testify about the law applicable to the case. In general, it can be within the district court's discretion to admit or exclude particular expert testimony, such that neither judgment will be reversed on appeal. See Univ. of R.I. v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 2 F.3d 1200, 1218 (1st Cir. 1993). More importantly, the cases Pelletier cites are inapposite because they involve situations in which the proper interpretation of the law is itself a factual issue in the case, as when the defendant claims that his interpretation of the law was reasonable, even if incorrect. See, e.g., United States v. Garber, 607 F.2d 92, 96-98 (5th Cir. 1979) (en banc) (reversing the exclusion of expert testimony to show that defendant reasonably believed no tax was due); see also Gomez v. Rivera Rodriguez, 344 F.3d 103, 115, 119 (1st Cir. 2003) (reversing the exclusion of testimony about legal advice given to the defendant to show the defendant's motivation for terminating plaintiffs' employment). In this case, Pelletier offered the expert testimony to show what the regulations meant, not to show what he thought they meant, and thus cases like Garber have no application here.
The most difficult issue in this case is the limitation of the testimony purportedly proffered as to industry custom and practice. Pelletier is correct that in general, the customs and practices of an industry are proper subjects for expert testimony. See Levin v. Dalva Bros., 459 F.3d 68, 79 (1st Cir. 2006). Pelletier is also correct that under Federal Rule of Evidence 703, an expert may base his opinion on trial testimony or on information conveyed to him prior to trial. See Almonte v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 787 F.2d 763, 770 (1st Cir. 1986). Thus, the fact that Twomey "had never visited the Old Mill," as the district court noted, would not alone be reason to exclude his testimony about customs and practices.
The district court's concern about the basis and content of Twomey's testimony was warranted, particularly given that Pelletier never clearly stated what customs and practices Twomey would testify to. Pelletier failed to make any more specific offer of proof. See Fed.R.Evid. 103(a) (2); see also Harrison v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 981 F.2d 25, 30 (1st Cir. 1992). Twomey's report gave little indication that his opinion was based on general industry customs and practices, focusing instead on Main Street's safety policies and numerous regulations, codes, and standards. As the district court noted, it gave Pelletier several different opportunities to explain why Twomey's testimony was admissible. Given the shifting explanations and the broad articulation of the proffer, there was some reason to suspect that the "customs and practices" referred to were merely the OSHA regulations, without referring to them as such. We are unable to say that the district court abused its wide discretion in refusing to allow Twomey's testimony as proffered.
Three D Rigging failed to carry workers' compensation insurance prior to Pelletier's accident. Lee Duby, Sr., the sole owner of Three D Rigging, filed for bankruptcy on December 15, 2003, and received a discharge on March 9, 2004