Opinion ID: 1964897
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the defendants' cross-appeal

Text: In their cross-appeal, the defendants assert that the plaintiffs failed to prove negligence on the part of the defendants, and that the defendants are therefore entitled to judgment against all plaintiffs, including Ms. Watkins, the somatization plaintiffs, and Mr. Diebold. The defendants also claim that the physical injuries claimed by all employee-plaintiffs  successfully by Susan Watkins and unsuccessfully by the somatization plaintiffs  are not compensable under Frye. Both contentions are without merit.
The defendants claim that the plaintiffs' expert witnesses failed to provide precise data regarding the quantity of toxins to which the plaintiffs were exposed, and that these experts were unable to define with any precision the length of plaintiffs' exposure. The lack of such evidence, according to the defendants, undermined the plaintiffs' proof both as to negligence and as to causation. We disagree. Irvin Fischer, an industrial hygienist who had initially been retained by the EPA to evaluate conditions at the Waterside complex, testified extensively about the specific chemicals and toxins utilized by the defendants during the renovation activity. Mr. Fischer stated that certain types of renovation always involve specific organic compounds and solvents. He explained that [w]hen you're painting, all paints, basically have the same solvents. So, although you may not be able to identify what color paint was on the wall, you know that the solvent in the paint was basically the same. Mr. Fischer studied Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) which were provided by the defendants or by the EPA, or which he obtained by filing his own Freedom of Information Act requests. The MSDS documents identified the specific substances that were used during the renovation process. According to Mr. Fischer, most of these substances were neurotoxins which operate as depressants to the central nervous system and which may cause loss of memory, breathing difficulties, unusual fatigue, and other neurological symptoms. Mr. Fischer testified that the individual plaintiffs were in fact exposed to dangerously high levels of organic compounds, well in excess of what has been clinically shown to cause neurological dysfunction with those exposures. In Mr. Fischer's opinion, the ventilation system at the Waterside Mall was inadequate and did not conform to accepted industry standards. After considering the proximity of the plaintiffs to the renovations, the limited extent to which the employees were segregated from this activity, and available information regarding the high incidence of neurological symptoms among the EPA employees, Mr. Fischer concluded that the defendants were in breach of the standard of care and that their negligence caused the plaintiffs' condition. Professor James Woods, the plaintiffs' other principal witness regarding the issue of negligence, had conducted a detailed study of the Waterside complex, at the request of the EPA, before he was retained by the plaintiffs in this litigation. Dr. Woods told the jury, as we have seen, that the ventilation at the Waterside Mall was inadequate for everyday use, and was especially deficient during construction or renovation activity, and that this activity was conducted in an inefficient and haphazard fashion. As a result, according to Dr. Woods, the defendants violated the applicable standard of care and exposed the occupants of the buildings to dangerous chemical substances. Both Mr. Fischer and Dr. Woods testified that, in their opinion, the defendants had endangered the health of EPA employees by conducting the renovations in a negligent manner. Although the plaintiffs were unable to offer testimony specifying the precise quantity or duration of exposure to particular substances, this did not render the expert testimony insufficient as a matter of law. On the contrary, precise data as to exposure are often unavailable, [16] but this does not preclude the presentation of a plaintiff's case to the jury. Expert witnesses testifying in toxic exposure cases must frequently rely upon circumstantial data to support their conclusions. One court has held, and we agree, that where there are no facts, such as the exact degree of [plaintiff's] exposure ... the experts are still entitled to offer their conclusions based on their areas of expertise, the circumstantial evidence, i.e. [plaintiff's] health before and after the accident, and the medical tests given [the plaintiff]. The jury is then entitled to attach such weight as it finds [that] the expert testimony deserves. Wisner v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R.R., 537 So.2d 740, 748 (La.Ct.App.1988), cert. denied, 540 So.2d 342 (La.1989). These authorities are consistent with this court's approach in comparable circumstances. In District of Columbia v. Bethel, 567 A.2d 1331 (D.C.1990), the District contended that certain expert testimony was insufficient because the materials on which the plaintiff's expert witness, James Murphy, relied did not establish negligence. We rejected the District's position: The District does not ... challenge Mr. Murphy's expertise. Rather, it contends in effect that his testimony was legally insufficient because, according to the District, he relied on improper materials to guide his expert opinion. The District cites no authority in support of its contention that a qualified expert's opinion can be undermined in this way. In general, although an opinion rises no higher than the level of the evidence and the logic on which it is predicated, it is for the jury, with the assistance of vigorous cross-examination, to measure the worth of the opinion. Id. at 1333 (citations omitted). Admissibility and sufficiency, of course, present different issues; an item of evidence may be relevant and admissible, but insufficient, standing alone, to support a finding of negligence. In this case, however, the plaintiffs presented detailed evidence by well-qualified expert witnesses. If credited, their testimony was quite compelling. Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, we conclude that the question of negligence was properly allowed to go to the jury.
The defendants also maintain on cross-appeal that the plaintiffs are not entitled to recover because, during closing argument, plaintiffs' counsel had characterized his clients' injuries as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS). According to the defendants, MCS is a controversial condition that has not been generally accepted in the relevant scientific and medical community, as required by Frye. [17] The defendants claim, in essence, that counsel's argument had the effect of conceding that the plaintiffs had no claim. The jury having determined that the somatization plaintiffs suffered no physical injury at all, the question whether these plaintiffs would be entitled to any recovery if they were suffering from MCS is moot as to them. The issue remains live only as to Susan Watkins, who was awarded damages for a physical injury. Viewing the record in the light most favorable to Ms. Watkins, we conclude that there was ample evidence to support the jury's award. We have previously dealt in some detail with the severity and duration of Ms. Watkins' symptoms. See pp. 933-34, supra. If the testimony of Ms. Watkins and her colleague, Vanessa Musgrave, is credited  and the jury evidently believed it  then one cannot plausibly assert that she sustained no legally cognizable harm. In addition, Ms. Watkins presented medical evidence showing that she suffered from toxic encephalopathy, i.e., brain damage surely a compensable injury. See Berry, supra, 709 So.2d at 554. According to Dr. Bell, a battery of tests, including an electro-encephalogram (EEG), disclosed that Ms. Watkins exhibited abnormal neurological functioning. Further tests administered by Dr. Thomas Callendar, a physician and occupational and environmental toxicologist, revealed that Ms. Watkins suffered from impaired balance, decreased grip strength, memory loss, chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane, and episodic tremors in her upper extremities. Dr. Callendar concluded that Ms. Watkins' exposure to toxic organic compounds had caused her to suffer from permanent toxic encephalopathy. According to the defendants, the closing argument of counsel for the plaintiffs revealed that the plaintiffs' claim, in its entirety, was one for MCS and for nothing else. The defendants rely on the following passage: Now what we're going to be talking about is something called multiple chemical sensitivity. Everybody agrees in this case that the plaintiffs symptoms, all of them are real. That they were not faking. So it's one of two things, either it was brain damage or it was this thing called somatization. It doesn't make any difference whether they actually suffered brain damage or whether in their own mind they actually feel like this. (Emphasis added.) Given the evidence of Ms. Watkins' toxic encephalopathy and comparatively serious injuries, we do not believe that the sentence italicized above can fairly be treated as an abandonment of her claim based on this compensable condition. Accordingly, we must sustain the jury's award in her favor.