Bruce Barze and Todd Lowther obtain summary judgment in the Beam v. McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc.

On March 24, Balch & Bingham lawyers Bruce Barze and Todd Lowther obtained summary judgment in a wrongful death case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.  Beam v. McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc., 2010 WL 1069616 (N.D. Ala. March 24, 2010).  The plaintiff’s decedent was killed when he fell (or stepped) off the rear riding step on a garbage truck manufactured by our client, McNeilus.  The plaintiff sued McNeilus under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer’s Liability Doctrine (AEMLD), Alabama’s version of strict product liability, and for breach of the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

 

Bruce and Todd removed the case to federal court and completed fact and expert discovery.  Thereafter, they moved to exclude the plaintiff's expert's opinions—based on Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993)—and moved for summary judgment on all claims.  The trial court determined that, even though the expert had “prior experience as a mechanical engineer and a long history as an expert witness, he has no experience with refuse collection or garbage-truck design, and he is not qualified to give expert opinion testimony in this case.”  For this reason, the court granted the motion to exclude the expert’s opinions.  As a result, the plaintiff could offer no admissible evidence of defect or breach of warranty, so the court entered summary judgment on the plaintiff’s AEMLD and breach of warranty claims.