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Defendant's Attorney: Ryan C. Boeche, Robert G. Sonnier, Health L. Hintz, Thomas G. Wolfe

Description: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma personal injury lawyers represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendant on a produce liability theory claiming to have suffered more than $75,000 in injuries and/or damages as a direct result of a defective and unreasonably dangerous product designed, manufactured and sold by Defendant.

Plaintiff-Appellant Cindy Roe suffered serious injuries after her Jeep Grand
Cherokee unexpectedly backed over her. After the accident, she filed a lawsuit in
federal district court against the manufacturer of her vehicle, FCA US (“FCA”),
alleging that the shifter assembly in her vehicle had been defectively designed in that
it could be perched into a “false-park” position where the vehicle appears to be in
park, but is actually in an unstable position that can slip into reverse. Roe further
alleged that this defect caused her injuries. To demonstrate this theory, she
designated two experts, Steven Meyer and Peter Sullivan. After testing and analysis
of the subject vehicle, the experts concluded that the vehicle was in this defective
false-park position when Roe exited the vehicle, and the vehicle then slipped into
reverse and backed over her, causing her injuries.
FCA moved to exclude Roe’s experts as unreliable on the issue of causation,
among other objections. FCA additionally moved for summary judgement because
Roe could not create a material issue of fact on the essential element of causation
without her experts’ testimony. The district court agreed with FCA, excluded the
experts, and granted summary judgment for FCA. Notably, the district court found
that the experts’ theory on causation was unreliable because they failed to
demonstrate that the shifter could remain in false park for sufficient time for Roe to
move behind the vehicle and then slip into reverse without manual assistance. Roe
now appeals, arguing that the district court abused its discretion in excluding Meyer
and Sullivan’s testimony.

On February 26, 2017, Roe was driving her 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee on a
rural property near Cushing, Oklahoma. After driving through a gate on the property,
she stopped and exited the car to close the gate behind the rear of the car. Tragically,
her Jeep suddenly moved backwards and rolled over her. Roe was eventually found
by the vehicle near the gate having suffered severe injuries including a traumatic
brain injury.
Roe filed suit in federal district court against FCA, the manufacturer of her
vehicle, for product liability, negligence, and failure to warn, alleging that her vehicle
“improperly and unexpectedly jumped into reverse on its own after she had shifted it
into park and exited the vehicle, running over her and causing traumatic and
permanent injuries.” Aplt. App. at 12. Roe claimed that the shifter assembly of the
subject vehicle was defectively designed in that it could be shifted into a “false-park”
position where the shifter appears to be in park, but is actually in an unstable position
where the shifter can self-engage into reverse. Roe alleged this defective position
allowed her Jeep to slip into reverse and caused her injuries.

* * *

After the expert reports and depositions had been submitted, FCA filed a
motion under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), to
exclude the two experts and also for summary judgment. FCA contended that Meyer
and Sullivan were both unqualified to testify as to a design defect in the shifter
assembly, to opine as to the underlying accident, and to testify as to an out-of-park
Appellate Case: 21-6073 Document: 010110719063 Date Filed: 08/02/2022 Page: 7
alarm. Further, FCA contended that the methods used by both experts to conclude
the alleged defect caused the accident were unreliable.

Outcome: Affirmed.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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