Opinion ID: 1058169
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Application of the McDaniel Factors to the Testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris

Text: In the present case, the trial court concluded that it was required to apply all five of the McDaniel factors in assessing the reliability of the testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris. Although a trial court has great latitude in assessing the reliability of expert testimony, we have never required a rigid application of the McDaniel factors in a reliability determination involving scientific or nonscientific expert evidence. See Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 834; McDaniel, 955 S.W.2d at 265. Rather, we have characterized the factors as a non-exclusive list that a trial court may consider in determining reliability. McDaniel, 955 S.W.2d at 265. The rigid application of the McDaniel factors to all expert testimony is problematic because all expert testimony may not fit within the factors. We agree with the United States Supreme Court that we can neither rule out, nor rule in, for all cases and for all time the applicability of the factors . . . nor can we now do so for subsets of cases categorized by category of expert or by kind of evidence. Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 150, 119 S.Ct. 1167. The reasonableness of the McDaniel factors in assessing reliability depends upon the nature of the issue, the witness's particular expertise, and the subject of the expert's testimony. See Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 833; see also Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 150, 119 S.Ct. 1167. The McDaniel factors may apply, subject to the trial court's discretion, when they are reasonable measures of the reliability of the expert testimony. Stevens, 78 S.W.3d at 834. Upon reviewing the record, we conclude that both Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris based their testimony primarily upon their practical experiences in their respective professions and that the testimony of neither expert fits neatly within the McDaniel factors. An expert may reach a conclusion from observations based upon his or her extensive and specialized experience. Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 156, 119 S.Ct. 1167. Opinions derived in this manner, however, do not easily lend themselves to scholarly review or to traditional scientific evaluation. First Tenn. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Barreto, 268 F.3d 319, 335 (6th Cir.2001).
In excluding the testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris, the trial court emphasized their lack of testing to support their opinions. In rendering their opinions, however, both Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris relied upon their review of Crown's accident reports and reporting system, tests conducted by Crown, and other documents and materials from Crown. An expert may rely upon both data collected by others and tests performed by others in reaching his or her conclusions. See Gussack Realty Co. v. Xerox Corp., 224 F.3d 85, 94-95 (2d Cir. 2000); Walker v. Soo Line R.R. Co., 208 F.3d 581, 588-89 (7th Cir.2000); Kinser v. Gehl Co., 184 F.3d 1259, 1272 (10th Cir. 1999). Although Crown expresses disapproval of the conclusions that Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris drew from this information, the fact that Crown's experts may have reached different conclusions from the same information does not render the testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris inadmissible. See Walker, 208 F.3d at 589. Furthermore, Dr. Harris properly relied upon the factual events of the accidents as reported by Mr. Brown and Mrs. Reynolds. See id. at 586 (holding that medical experts may rely upon self-reported patient histories). Any inaccuracies in these events may be explored through cross-examination. Id. In regard to the testing factor, the trial court also faulted Mr. Johannson's failure to develop and test the sketch of a door that he had presented. We recognize that some courts have excluded expert testimony of a safer alternative design where the expert did not create detailed drawings of the design or perform tests. See, e.g., Zaremba v. Gen. Motors Corp., 360 F.3d 355, 358-59 (2d Cir.2004). Mr. Johannson, however, did not submit his sketch of a door as a safer alternative design. Rather, Mr. Johannson presented the sketch in connection with his testimony regarding the steps that he maintained Crown should have taken to remedy the problem of left leg injuries resulting from stand-up forklift accidents. Mr. Johannson testified that while he was employed at Caterpillar he participated in the Kepman Traylor Problem Solution Analysis Approach as a method of resolving design issues with its forklifts. One of the steps involved a brainstorming session during which members of a design team would identify possible solutions. Mr. Johannson clearly stated that the purpose of the sketch was to illustrate the activities that Crown failed to perform as part of the brainstorming stage. Under these circumstances, we do not believe Mr. Johannson's failure to test his sketch renders his testimony inadmissible. Furthermore, both Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris testified that Crown has sold models of its stand-up forklifts equipped with doors. The fact that stand-up forklifts equipped with doors have been manufactured and placed on the market diminishes the need for tests, a prototype, and design development. See McPike v. Corghi S.P.A., 87 F.Supp.2d 890, 893-94 (E.D.Ark.1999); cf. Jaurequi v. Carter Mfg. Co., 173 F.3d 1076, 1084 (8th Cir. 1999) (expert failed to construct, draw, or test the device or identify any manufacturer who had incorporated the device into its product); Dancy v. Hyster Co., 127 F.3d 649, 651-52 (8th Cir.1997) (expert did not design the proposed safety device or point to its use on similar machines). Thus, the idea of a stand-up forklift equipped with a door is not merely an untested theory for which there is no support. Rather, it is a design that has been incorporated to some degree by Crown itself. The trial court also emphasized Dr. Harris' failure to test his conclusions regarding the actions that an operator should take in the event of a tip-over or off-the-dock emergency. Dr. Harris testified that from a biomechanic standpoint, an operator involved in a tip-over or off-the-dock emergency should attempt to regain control of the forklift. If there is no time to react, the operator should stiffen and lean away from the impact zone. Dr. Harris stated that training a wide variety of people to successfully jump off a forklift in the event of an emergency would be impossible due to differing work environments, work surfaces, operating speeds, and physical characteristics and reaction times of operators. Contrary to Dr. Harris' opinion, safety regulations instruct operators to exit compartments during these types of accidents. When an expert proposes a theory that modifies otherwise well-established knowledge, the importance of testing as a factor in determining reliability is at its highest. Bitler v. A.O. Smith Corp., 400 F.3d 1227, 1235-36 (10th Cir.2004). In addition to biomechanical engineering principles, Dr. Harris relied upon his observations of a test conducted by John Sevart [2] in which a human being remained inside the operator's compartment of a Yale stand-up forklift equipped with a door during a tip-over. During the demonstration, tip-overs were conducted at smaller angles before a full tip-over was conducted. Dr. Harris stated the operator was not injured during the demonstration and did not appear to have hit his head. According to Dr. Harris, the demonstration illustrated the use of a door to complete the protection zone in a tip-over environment where the operator . . . [s]tays safe within the compartment of the forklift. Dr. Harris indicated that the results of tests involving human beings are more accurate than the results of tests involving dummies due to the biomechanical difference in the reaction of the subjects. Furthermore, Dr. Harris explained that the sit-down forklift industry uses the same process when testing its products. Due to this testimony, we do not believe that the fact of conflicting instructions in the safety regulations alone provides a sufficient basis for exclusion of Dr. Harris' testimony.
Although the trial court found that the opinions of neither Mr. Johannson nor Dr. Harris had been subjected to peer review, the lack of peer review does not necessarily render an expert's opinion unreliable. See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 593-94, 113 S.Ct. 2786; First Tenn. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 268 F.3d at 334. It might not be surprising in a particular case . . . that a claim made by a scientific witness has never been the subject of peer review, for the particular application at issue may never previously have interested any scientist. Kumho Tire Co., 526 U.S. at 151, 119 S.Ct. 1167. The trial court failed to indicate whether publication is typical for the methodologies that Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris purported to employ. The trial court's failure to explain the connection between lack of peer review and the reliability of these experts' testimony prevents us from examining the extent to which this factor affects the reliability of the methodologies employed by Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris. See Smith v. Ford Motor Co., 215 F.3d 713, 720-21 (7th Cir.2000). We recognize, however, that Dr. Harris has published numerous articles regarding the principles of biomechanics, even though he has not subjected the application of these principles to forklifts to peer review. With regard to Mr. Johannson, the failure to submit to publication opinions based upon well-established engineering techniques or extensive practical experience, rather than novel methodology, rarely casts doubt upon the reliability of the opinions. See id.
The trial court found that the potential rate of error for the conclusions of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris is unknown due to lack of testing. The experienced-based methodology of the two experts, combined with Crown's incorporation of a door on some of its stand-up forklifts, lessens the relevancy of the rate of error factor. See Pipitone v. Biomatrix, Inc., 288 F.3d 239, 246 (5th Cir.2002) (holding that the rate-of-error factor is not particularly relevant where the expert bases his or her testimony upon first-hand observations and professional experience).
The trial court considered the general acceptance of the two experts' opinions regarding the safety of stand-up forklifts that are not equipped with doors. In its ruling, the trial court referred to safety standards that do not require doors on stand-up forklifts. Those standards include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the military. ANSI and ASME are private, professional organizations, [3] and ANSI's standards are voluntary. [4] Regulations from both OSHA and NIOSH are applicable to an employer's conduct and not to a manufacturer's conduct. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 651-54, 669-71; see also Minichello v. U.S. Indus., Inc., 756 F.2d 26, 28-30 (6th Cir.1985). While these regulatory authorities do not mandate the incorporation of a door, they also do not prohibit doors. Cf. Giles v. Miners, Inc., 242 F.3d 810, 812-13 (8th Cir.2001) (excluding expert testimony regarding alternative design due to various shortcomings including the fact that the design would violate industry design standards). Furthermore, military specifications do not regulate Crown's conduct in designing and manufacturing stand-up forklifts for non-military use. See McEuin v. Crown Equip. Corp., 328 F.3d 1028, 1033 (9th Cir.2003) (The military specifications at issue, not having the force of law, could not have required Crown to manufacture its non-military 30RC forklifts to any particular specification.).
Finally, the trial court found that the conclusions of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris were derived from litigation. Much of their testimony, however, was derived from pre-litigation personal experiences in their respective fields. As a result, the relevancy of this factor is lessened. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court erred in holding that application of all five of the McDaniel factors was mandated and in applying the McDaniel factors when the factors did not provide an adequate measure of the reliability of the methodologies employed by Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris. During the trial, the trial court expressed reservations as to the reliability of the testimony of Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris. We, however, are unable to separate these expressions from the trial court's mistaken belief that it was required to apply all five of the McDaniel factors. Rather, a trial court need only apply those McDaniel factors that it finds reasonably measure the reliability of the particular expert's methodology. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of both Mr. Johannson and Dr. Harris.