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Bourelle v. Crown

Where expert witness had never observed or tested allegedly defectively-designed stockpicker, he was properly prevented from offering expert engineering testimony in suit by two injured employees.

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The full case caption appears at the end of this opinion.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge. After Rhonda Wendling and Darla Bourelle were injured in the course of their employment at Sears Logistical Systems (SLS) in Manteno, Illinois, they both filed product liability and tort actions in the Illinois state court system. In their complaints, the two women alleged that the Crown Turret Stockpicker (TSP)[FOOTNOTE 1] that they were operating, and which was manufactured and placed in the stream of commerce by Crown Equipment Corporation, was improperly designed. They also alleged that Crown was negligent in its maintenance of the TSP, as well as the operational warnings it provided for the forklift. Based on the diversity of the parties, Crown removed the two cases to the United States Federal Court for the Central District of Illinois. After the trial judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ expert witness, Daniel Pacheco, was “unreliable” within the meaning of Fed. R. Evid. 702,[FOOTNOTE 2] he granted summary judgment to Crown on the plaintiffs’ product liability claim.[FOOTNOTE 3] We affirm.[FOOTNOTE 4]

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