Lynn v. Yamaha Golf–Car Co.

• Decision Date: 16 August 2012
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 2:10–cv–01059.
• Citation: 894 F.Supp.2d 606
• Parties: Mercedez LYNN, a minor, by and through her parents and natural guardians, Melissa LYNN and Robert Lynn, and Melissa Lynn and Robert Lynn, in their own right, Plaintiffs, v. YAMAHA GOLF–CAR COMPANY, Formerly Known as Yamaha Golf Company; Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation; Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America; and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation, U.S.A., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

894 F.Supp.2d 606

Mercedez LYNN, a minor, by and through her parents and natural guardians, Melissa LYNN and Robert Lynn, and Melissa Lynn and Robert Lynn, in their own right, Plaintiffs,

v.YAMAHA GOLF–CAR COMPANY, Formerly Known as Yamaha Golf Company; Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation; Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America; and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation, U.S.A., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 2:10–cv–01059.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

Aug. 16, 2012.

Carl R. Schiffman, Jason M. Schiffman, Schiffman & Wojdowski, Pittsburgh, PA, for Plaintiffs.

Clem C. Trischler, Pietragallo, Bosick & Gordon, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendants.

OPINION

MARK R. HORNAK, District Judge.

This is a products liability case seeking recovery for injuries allegedly caused by a defective golf car.

Mercedez Lynn and her parents, Robert and Melissa Lynn (collectively, the “Plaintiffs” or the “Lynns”), bring this civil action against Yamaha Golf–Car Company, Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation, Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America, and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation, U.S.A. (collectively, the “Defendants” or “Yamaha”) for severe head injuries sustained by Mercedez Lynn when, as a passenger, she was thrown from a golf car manufactured by the Defendants. Now pending before the Court are Yamaha's Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF No. 32, and Motion to Preclude the Testimony of Kristopher Seluga, M.S., P.E., Under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. ECF No. 34. Having been fully briefed and argued, these matters are ripe for disposition. For the reasons that follow, the Motion to Preclude the Testimony of Kristopher Seluga, M.S., P.E., Under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 is denied, and the Court will grant in part and deny in part the Motion for Summary Judgment.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On April 30, 2008, Plaintiff Mercedez Lynn, then thirteen (13) years old, was a passenger in a 1999 Yamaha G16A golf car, bearing manufacturer's serial number JN6–310453, which was being operated by her friend, Jackie Johnston, on a paved road in the Lynns' neighborhood. Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶ 1. The Yamaha golf car was purchased secondhand by Mercedez Lynn's father, Robert Lynn, on the side of the road from a private seller. Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶¶ 4, 8. Mr. Lynn did not receive the Yamaha Owner's/Operator's Manual that accompanied the vehicle on the initial purchase. Id.

Ms. Johnston, then operating a golf car for the first time, was also thirteen (13) years old at the time of the incident. Id. at ¶¶ 1, 9. Facing the public road from the Lynn property, the girls turned left out of the Lynns' driveway and traveled north on Sutherland Road. Upon approaching a bend in the uphill portion of the road located at the top of Sutherland Road, Ms. Johnston began to make a left hand U-turn to return to the Lynn property. Pls.' Resp. to Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶ 12. In order to execute this maneuver, Ms. Johnston turned slightly right into the driveway of the residence located at 224 Sutherland Road. Id. Ms. Johnston then turned the vehicle left with enough steering force to return south towards the Lynn property. Id. At some point within the U-turn, Mercedez Lynn was thrown from the golf car, and her head struck the ground following her ejection. As a result, Mercedez sustained serious head injuries and is unable to recall the events leading up to the accident. Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶ 2; Seluga Exp. Rep., ECF Nos. 43–7 and 45–4, at 3.

Shortly before the accident, as Jackie Johnston was approaching the driveway to make the U-turn, she saw Mercedez text messaging on her mobile telephone, which required the use of both of her hands. Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶ 13; Johnston Dep. Tr. at 71:2–3. Ms. Johnston testified that, while in a seated position, Mercedez's feet were flat on the floor of the golf car just before Ms. Johnston maneuvered the golf car onto the driveway at 224 Sutherland Road. Pls.' Responsive Statement of Facts ¶ 13. There were no other eyewitnesses to the accident on Sutherland Road. Defs.' Concise Statement of Material Facts ¶ 2.

In pursuing their theories of liability and causation in this case, the Lynns retained the services of Kristopher Seluga, M.S., P.E., a licensed professional engineer in the State of Connecticut and an accredited traffic accident reconstructionist. ECF No. 45–2. As part of his investigation in this matter, Mr. Seluga reviewed: (1) the Police Report of April 30, 2008; (2) the transcript from Jackie Johnston's deposition; (3) photographs of the golf car and accident scene; (4) aerial photos of the accident scene; (5) various discovery documents, including the Owner's/Operator's Manual of the 1999 G16A golf car; (6) the relevant national safety standard for golf cars—ANSI/NGCMA Z130.1–1993; and (7) the medical records of Mercedez Lynn containing height and weight measurements. Seluga Exp. Rep. at 9. Mr. Seluga also inspected, measured, and photographed the subject golf car and accident scene. Id. From this investigation, Mr. Seluga constructed several computer simulations recreating the accident to evaluate the effectiveness of the golf car's passenger hip restraint. Id.

This action was initially filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and the Defendants removed the case to this Court on diversity grounds, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). The Complaint, ECF No. 1–3, alleges that the 1999 Yamaha G16A golf car was defectively designed by the Defendants, specifically alleging that the hip restraint on the golf car acts as a fulcrum facilitating a passenger being ejected so as to make the golf car unreasonably dangerous, and that it lacked a passenger handhold in the area between the driver and passenger. Furthermore, the Plaintiffs allege that the golf car was defective due to a lack of adequate and proper warnings. Finally, the Plaintiffs also allege claims sounding in negligence against the Defendants. ¹ The Defendants answered the Complaint on September 15, 2010. ECF Nos. 7, 8. The parties engaged in discovery, and, upon its completion, the Defendants filed the pending Motion for Summary Judgment on December 1, 2011. ECF No. 32. On the same day, the Defendants filed their Motion in Limine to Preclude the Testimony of Kristopher Seluga Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702. ECF No. 34.

II. JURISDICTION

The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action due to diversity of citizenship, and we will apply the substantive law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and federal procedural law. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(a), 1652; Chamberlain v. Giampapa, 210 F.3d 154, 158 (3d Cir.2000) (citing Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938)).

III. DISCUSSION

Defendants' Motion to Preclude the Testimony of Kristopher Seluga, M.S., P.E.

The Defendants move the Court to preclude the testimony of Plaintiffs' expert, Kristopher Seluga, under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which amounts to a challenge made under the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). In acting as a gatekeeper in a Rule 702 inquiry, the Court must screen purportedly scientific evidence and ensure that any and all such proffered evidence is both relevant and reliable. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 589, 597, 113 S.Ct. 2786. This gatekeeping function also arises when an expert is offered to provide technical evidence related to the engineering field. See Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 151, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999). The Court's inquiry is one of flexibility wherein the focus rests solely on the principles and methods used by the expert, not on the conclusions drawn from them. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 594–95, 113 S.Ct. 2786.

Rule 702 provides that “[a] witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case.” Fed.R.Evid. 702. In determining the admissibility of expert testimony, courts have categorized the Rule 702 requirements as (1) the expert's qualifications, (2) the reliability of the expert's methods, and (3) the “fit” of the expert's methods to the facts of the case (i.e., whether the expert's methods are helpful to the fact finder). See Schneider ex rel. Estate of Schneider v. Fried, 320 F.3d 396, 404 (3d Cir.2003).

1) Qualifications

In order to qualify as an expert witness, the witness must possess relevant specialized expertise. Id. at 405. While the Defendants initially spent considerable effort to discount the credibility of Kristopher Seluga by labeling him as a “paid” litigation expert, they maintain that they are not seeking to preclude his testimony based on any perceived lack of qualifications. Defs.' Reply Br. at 7. Nevertheless, because the Defendants initially objected to Mr. Seluga's expertise, ECF No. 34 at 6–7, the Court will briefly examine his qualifications.

The Court has considerable latitude in determining whether a witness qualifies as an expert. See In Re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litigation, 35 F.3d 717, 741 (3d Cir.1994)( Paoli II ). Our Court of Appeals has held that a broad range of knowledge, skills, and training may qualify a witness as an expert. Id. (citing Paoli I, 916 F.2d 829, 855 (3d Cir.1990)). The Paoli I court thus held that the exclusion of a witness was not proper simply because an expert did not possess the education or training that the district court thought would...