Rogers v. K2 Sports, LLC, 17-cv-534-jdp

348 F.Supp.3d 892

Steven Scott ROGERS, BY His Guardian, Tracy ROGERS, Tracy Rogers, Samba Health Benefit Plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, and State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Plaintiffs,

v.K2 SPORTS, LLC, Lexington Insurance Company, and AIG Europe Limited, Defendants.

17-cv-534-jdp

United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin.

Signed December 28, 2018

Charles M. Bye, Robert A. Parsons, Brian F. Laule, Bye, Goff & Rohde, Ltd., River Falls, WI, Matthew Robert Falk, Falk Legal Group, Milwaukee, WI, Jesus Gabriel Garza, State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Madison, WI, for Plaintiffs.

Anne Marie Ellis, Michael Preciado, Christopher Hossellman, Gary A. Wolensky, Buchalter, A.P.C., Irvine, CA, Eric J. Meier, Husch Blackwell, LLP, Leslie Gutierrez, Milwaukee, WI, Charles W. Browning, Sara D. Corbello, Plunkett Cooney, P.C., Bloomfield Hills, MI, for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

JAMES D. PETERSON, District Judge

Plaintiff Steven Scott Rogers fell while skiing and suffered a serious brain injury. Scott and his wife, plaintiff Tracy Rogers, contend that Scott's helmet, made by defendant K2 Sports, was defectively designed and that the defect was a cause of his injury. They have sued K2 for negligence, strict product liability, and breach of warranty. Dkt. 32. Tracy also claims loss of consortium as a result of her husband's injuries.¹ K2 denies that the helmet was defective, contending instead that the helmet was the wrong size and that Scott had not properly fastened it, and that he was injured by direct contact with the ground.

K2 moves for summary judgment on all of plaintiffs' claims. Dkt. 102. Plaintiffs oppose, and they move to strike defendant's experts' opinions that the helmet moved out of position when Scott fell. Dkt. 139.

At the heart of this case is a straightforward dispute about the role of the helmet in Scott's injury. The court will limit the testimony of K2's experts about how the injury occurred because some of those opinions are too speculative. But that still leaves genuine disputes about the fit of the helmet and whether it was properly designed, so K2's motion for summary judgment will be denied.

UNDISPUTED FACTS

The following facts are undisputed except where noted.

Scott wore a K2 Phase 08 helmet while skiing with his stepson Coby at the Afton Alps Ski Area in Washington County, Minnesota, on New Year's Eve 2015. Around 8:40 p.m., Scott and Coby skied down a beginner's run called Nancy's Nursery. Scott fell about halfway down the hill near some small mounds called "rollers." Coby was in front of Scott and did not witness the fall. Another skier did witness the fall, but he was not able to recall any details about it, except that the fall did not seem unusual.

The fall left Scott unconscious and bleeding from his left ear. Scott was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where doctors conducted tests including a CT scan of Scott's head. The accident caused brain hemorrhages and fractured Scott's skull, left clavicle, and numerous ribs along Scott's left side. As a result of permanent brain damage caused by the accident, Scott now lives at a VA hospital where he receives round-the-clock care.

The K2 helmet was certified as compliant with the standards of ASTM International, which is an organization that develops and publishes technical standards for a wide range of products.² Compliance with ASTM standards is voluntary. The K2 helmet has three layers. The exterior layer is a hard-plastic shell. The shell is lined with an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) energy-attenuating layer, which is supposed to absorb and dissipate shock from a blow to the head. The third layer is a comfort liner that can be adjusted to fit on the user's head. After Scott's accident, the lower left rear of the exterior shell was cracked. And, in the same area, the shock-absorbing EPS layer was flattened, and chunks of the EPS were missing.

The parties sharply dispute what happened to the helmet when Scott fell. K2 contends that the helmet was improperly fit and not properly fastened. K2's theory is that as Scott fell, his helmet shifted out of place and the left posterior region of his head was exposed and directly hit the ground. Dkt. 144, ¶ 38. K2 contends that the helmet only partially protected Scott's head, and that the point of impact on the helmet was below the "test line," which is the lower limit of the area that is supposed to be protected under ASTM standards. K2 also contends that pictures from the day of the accident show that Scott failed to tighten the helmet's chinstrap. Id. , ¶ 39.

Plaintiffs contend that the helmet did not actually meet ASTM standards. Plaintiffs' theory is that the bottom rear of the helmet was excessively tapered at the test line. As a result of the tapering, the helmet did not afford sufficient protection against a blow such as the one Scott suffered. Plaintiffs also contend that the helmet was the right size for Scott.

ANALYSIS

K2 moves for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiffs cannot prove that Scott's K2 helmet was defective or that it caused Scott's injuries. In connection with their opposition to K2's motion, plaintiffs move to strike parts of K2's expert evidence. The court begins with plaintiffs' challenge to the expert evidence.

A. Plaintiffs' motion to exclude expert evidence

Under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael , 526 U.S. 137, 147, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999), the court must serve as a gatekeeper to ensure that proffered expert testimony meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Essentially, the gatekeeping function consists of a three-part test: the court must ensure that the expert is qualified, that the expert's opinions are based on reliable methods and reasoning, and that the expert's opinions will assist the jury in deciding a relevant issue. Myers v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co. , 629 F.3d 639, 644 (7th Cir. 2010). The proponent of expert evidence bears the burden of establishing that the expert's testimony is admissible. Lewis v. CITGO Petroleum Corp. , 561 F.3d 698, 705 (7th Cir. 2009).

Plaintiffs move to strike aspects of the expert reports of P. David Halstead and Irving Scher. Although plaintiffs dispute Halstead's qualifications, the main question is whether Halstead and Scher used reliable methodologies and reasoning. The admissibility inquiry undertaken by the court "must be ‘tied to the facts’ of a particular case." Kumho , 526 U.S. at 150, 119 S.Ct. 1167 (quoting Daubert , 509 U.S. at 591, 113 S.Ct. 2786 ). The "critical inquiry" for admissibility is whether the opinion is rationally connected to the underlying data or "connected to the existing data ‘only by the ipse dixit of the expert.’ " Gopalratnam v. Hewlett-Packard Co. , 877 F.3d 771, 781 (7th Cir. 2017). Expert testimony that merely asserts a "bottom line" or provides testimony based on subjective belief or speculation is inadmissible. Metavante Corp. v. Emigrant Sav. Bank , 619 F.3d 748, 761 (7th Cir. 2010).

1. P. David Halstead

P. David Halstead is the Technical Director of Southern Impact Research Center. Halstead conducted a series of drop tests to try to replicate the damage on Scott's helmet, and thereby to determine the amount of force that the helmet and Scott experienced at the time of Scott's fall. Dkt. 110, at 6. Halstead offers two main opinions: (1) that the helmet was not defective, and (2) that the helmet was out of place at the time of the accident. Plaintiffs move to strike three aspects of Halstead's report. Dkt. 137, at 6–7.

First, plaintiffs move to strike Halstead's opinion that the helmet was out of position at the time of the accident. Halstead expresses that opinion in various forms:

• "It is my opinion that Mr. Rogers' injuries were caused by complex fall kinematics that resulted while his helmet was out of position (rotated slightly to the left and possibly higher on the right) exposing his temporal bone in the area he sustained the mastoid fracture." Dkt. 110, at 7.

• "Mr. Rogers sustained his injuries when his partially helmeted head, with the mastoid area of the temporal bone exposed, made contact with a somewhat compliant surface such as snow substantially similar to the snow measured at Afton Alps." Id. at 9.

• "The skull fracture is a result of functionally direct contact with the impact surface to the mastoid area." Id.

• "Given the test results had the helmet been in position the skull fracture almost certainly would not have occurred." Id.

The court agrees with plaintiff that Halstead has not shown that this opinion is rationally connected to underlying data.

Halstead conducted a series of drop tests using K2 Phase 08 helmets, the same model as Scott's helmet. Id. at 6. Under the ASTM standards, a helmet must keep the user's head from accelerating more than 300 g, meaning that the force of impact on the skull is equivalent to 300 times the force of gravity or less. Dkt. 124-13, at 3. Although these drop tests were not testing for ASTM compliance, Halstead used 300 g as a threshold for the helmet's effectiveness. Halstead conducted eleven tests by dropping helmets on to a modular elastomer programmer (MEP), a rubber pad that is somewhat harder than packed snow. Dkt. 110, at 6. None of the drops resulted in an acceleration of more than 181 g or damaged the helmet in a way that resembled the damage to Scott's helmet. So Halstead conducted three more tests using a harder, steel anvil. Id. at 6. One of these drops did crack the helmet, but the damage was still not as severe as Scott's helmet.

Halstead opined that because his tests could not replicate the damage to Scott's helmet, Scott's helmet must not have been in place on Scott's head at the time of the accident. Id. at 8–9. Halstead did not conduct any follow-up testing; he did not, for example, try dropping the helmet while it was out of place on the headform or try dropping the helmet...