Amorgianos v. National R.R. Passenger Corp.

• Citation: 303 F.3d 256
• Decision Date: 28 August 2002
• Docket Number: Docket No. 01-7508.
• Parties: Nikitas AMORGIANOS and Donna Amorgianos, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION, d/b/a Amtrak, Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Appellee, Romano Enterprises, Romano Enterprises of New York, Inc., Ahern Painting, Ahern Painting Contractors Inc., and Dynamic Painting, Dynamic Painting Corporation, Third-Party-Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

303 F.3d 256

Nikitas AMORGIANOS and Donna Amorgianos, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION, d/b/a Amtrak, Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Appellee Romano Enterprises, Romano Enterprises of New York, Inc., Ahern Painting, Ahern Painting Contractors Inc., and Dynamic Painting, Dynamic Painting Corporation, Third-Party-Defendants.

Docket No. 01-7508.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: February 11, 2002.

Decided: August 28, 2002.

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Lawrence P. Biondi, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Angela Delfino Vitali, Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Third-Party-Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before WALKER, Chief Judge, SACK and B.D. PARKER, Circuit Judges.

JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Chief Judge:

This case requires us to elaborate on the nature of the district court's role as the gatekeeper for scientific and technical testimony under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). The Supreme Court's now-familiar Daubert ruling set forth the standards for the admissibility of expert scientific and technical testimony, providing that the district judge is to ensure that such testimony rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the case before the court. Id. at 579. The question of how the district court is to perform this critical function is central to this appeal.

In June of 1998, a jury found in favor of plaintiffs Nikitas and Donna Amorgianos on a number of claims arising out of work-related injuries that Nikitas Amorgianos claimed to have suffered while engaged in a bridge painting project at a job site overseen by defendant National Railroad Passenger Corporation ("Amtrak"). Concluding that the jury verdict was against the weight of the evidence, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Edward R. Korman, Chief District Judge) granted defendant Amtrak's motion for new trial. The case was then reassigned to Judge David G. Trager and defendant filed a Daubert motion to preclude plaintiffs' experts from testifying at the second trial. Judge Trager granted defendant's motion in a lengthy opinion, Amorgianos v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 137 F.Supp.2d 147 (E.D.N.Y.2001), and thereafter granted summary judgment in favor of Amtrak.

On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court abused its discretion in granting defendant's motion for new trial and thereafter by excluding plaintiffs' experts. They also contend that the district court erred in ultimately granting summary judgment. Finding no abuse of discretion or error in the district court's rulings, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

I. Plaintiffs' Claims

Plaintiff Nikitas Amorgianos ("Amorgianos") seeks to recover damages for injuries he allegedly sustained as a result of toxic chemical exposure that occurred while he was painting a bridge at a job site overseen by defendant Amtrak. Amorgianos, who fell ill on August 28, 1995 while spray painting, alleges that his inhalation of and dermal exposure to toxic chemicals, and in particular to xylene, an organic solvent contained in paints, thinners, and primers used at the job site, caused him to suffer a variety of ailments. Specifically, he contends that his exposure to xylene resulted in "permanently disabling central nervous system dysfunctions, such as memory loss and cognitive deficits, and peripheral polyneuropathy, a neurological condition involving the loss of sensation and motor control in the extremities." Plaintiff Donna Amorgianos, Amorgianos's wife, claims loss of consortium and services.

II. Procedural History

In April 1996, plaintiffs filed a complaint in state court that was later removed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Thereafter, in June of 1998, the case proceeded to a jury trial before Judge Korman, resulting in a verdict in plaintiffs' favor. The jury awarded Amorgianos $160,000 for loss of past earnings, $340,000 for past pain and suffering, $2.2 million for future pain and suffering, and $572,000 for future lost earnings; it also awarded Mrs. Amorgianos $60,000 for loss of consortium and services.

After trial, defendant Amtrak filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law or for a new trial, pursuant to Rules 50 and 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Judge Korman denied Amtrak's motion for judgment as a matter of law but granted the motion for new trial upon concluding that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. The case was then reassigned to Judge Trager.

In anticipation of a second trial, plaintiffs offered two experts who testified at the first trial, industrial hygienist Jack Caravanos and internist Dr. Jacqueline Moline, and one additional expert toxicologist, Dr. Jonathan S. Rutchik. Amtrak filed a Daubert motion to exclude the testimony of all three of plaintiffs' experts. By opinion, the district court granted the motion in part and denied it in part. Amorgianos, 137 F.Supp.2d 147.

In granting defendant's Daubert motion in part, the district court concluded that (a) Caravanos would not be permitted to testify regarding the concentration of xylene or other organic solvents to which Amorgianos was exposed because the methodology he used in calculating Amorgianos's exposure was unsound, id. at 174-76; (b) none of plaintiffs' experts would be permitted to testify "on the issue of general causation with respect to Mr. Amorgianos's alleged chronic neurological conditions," because their opinions were unreliable, id. at 191, 177-91; and (c) plaintiffs' experts' testimony as to the duration of Amorgianos's alleged exposure was beyond their areas of expertise, id. at 176.

The district court also denied defendant's motion in part, holding that plaintiffs' experts could testify regarding Amorgianos's "alleged eye irritation, nausea, fever, and other acute health conditions in the two- to three-day period after he ceased work on August 28, 1995, provided plaintiffs produce admissible expert evidence" regarding the xylene concentration to which Amorgianos was exposed, id. at 191; and that plaintiffs would be allowed to present otherwise admissible expert evidence based on the estimated duration of Amorgianos's exposure.

However, having excluded plaintiffs' proffered general causation testimony regarding the cause of Amorgianos's long-term neurological symptoms, the district court granted defendant leave to file a motion for summary judgment with respect to those claims and with respect to Mrs. Amorgianos's loss of consortium claims. Id. Finally, recognizing that the defects in Caravanos's expert opinion as to Amorgianos's xylene exposure level could be remedied if a more precise calculation method were applied, the district court granted plaintiffs leave to supplement the expert evidence. Id. In doing so, the district court advised plaintiffs that if they failed to supplement the record as indicated, defendant would be granted leave to file a motion for summary judgment with respect to all of Amorgianos's remaining claims. Id.

Plaintiffs failed to supplement the record and Amtrak's oral motion for summary judgment was granted with respect to all of plaintiffs' claims on March 30, 2001. This appeal followed.

On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court abused its discretion by granting defendant's motion for new trial and by excluding plaintiffs' experts under Daubert. Plaintiffs also contend that the district court erred in granting defendant's motion for summary judgment after excluding plaintiffs' experts. We address each of these arguments in turn.

DISCUSSION

I. Motion for New Trial

A. Standard of Review

This court reviews the grant of a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence for abuse of discretion. Farrior v. Waterford Bd. of Educ., 277 F.3d 633, 634 (2d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 2661, 153 L.Ed.2d 836 (2002). Granting a new trial on that basis "is appropriate if `the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result or ... the verdict is a miscarriage of justice.'" Id. (quoting DLC Mgmt. Corp. v. Town of Hyde Park, 163 F.3d 124, 133 (2d Cir.1998) (alteration in original)).

B. The Evidence at Trial

In July 1995, Amorgianos, then in his early 40s and a bridge painter since 1974, began work for Amtrak on the Steinway Street Bridge project (the "project"). The project required sandblasting away old lead-based paint and repainting a street overpass in Astoria, Queens. As Amorgianos's duties entailed stripping and painting, he was required to work inside a containment enclosure built to protect pedestrians from lead paint dust and paint overspray (the "containment").

At trial, there was conflicting evidence over whether Amtrak had supplied proper safety equipment, including organic vapor filters for the respirators that painters use to protect themselves from chemical exposure. There was also evidence suggesting that Amorgianos had used his respirator improperly. Amorgianos testified that during the last two weeks of the project, while spray painting inside the containment, he used a lead dust filter (which does not protect against paint fumes) because Amtrak had failed to provide a sufficient supply of organic vapor filters for the respirators. He also testified that, during these two weeks, there was no ventilation inside the containment because the containment's fresh air louvers were kept closed during painting and no fans were used.

Due to Amtrak's alleged failure to provide proper safety equipment and to ensure sufficient ventilation inside the containment, Amorgianos claimed that he suffered overexposure to xylene, an organic solvent, which caused him to fall acutely ill on August 28, 1995, with symptoms of fever, swollen joints, itchiness, headache, and difficulty moving. He testified that his condition worsened...