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Date: 02-13-2023
Case Style:
Romond Marche Blanks v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et al.
Case Number: 2:17-cv-03050
Judge: Wendy B. Vitter
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Orleans Parish)
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Elizabeth S. Wheeler, Adrianne Katrine Jakola, Brady Carlton McMillin
Charles B. Wilmore, Devin C. Reid, George Gaston Rochelle, III, Kristopher Scott Ritter, Martin L. Roth, Russell Keith Jarrett
Description: New Orleans, Louisiana personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendant on a marine negligence theory arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and the subsequent cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
This case arises from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and the subsequent cleanup efforts of the Gulf Coast. On January 11, 2013, United States District Judge Carl J. Barbier, who presided over the multidistrict litigation arising out of the Deepwater Horizon incident, approved the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement Agreement (the “MSA”).[8]However, certain individuals, referred to as “B3” plaintiffs, either opted out of or were excluded from the MSA.[9] Plaintiff Romond Blanks opted out of the MSA and, accordingly, is a B3 plaintiff.[10]
Plaintiff filed this individual action against Defendants on April 9, 2017 to recover for injuries allegedly sustained as a result of the oil spill.[11] For approximately five months in 2010, Plaintiff worked as an offshore cleanup worker, tasked with cleaning up oil and oil-covered debris from the waters and coastal areas near Venice, Louisiana.[12] Plaintiff alleges that Defendants' negligence and recklessness in both causing the Gulf oil spill and subsequently failing to properly design and implement a clean-up response caused him to suffer myriad injuries including chronic abdominal pains, GERD, bloody stools, internal bleeding, shortness of breath, restrictive lung disease, coughs, chronic rhinitis, chronic frontal sinusitis, severe ear pains, headaches, lightheadedness, clamminess, jittering, skin acne oil, boils, and itching.[13]Specifically, Plaintiff seeks to recover economic damages, personal injury damages- including damages for past and future medical expenses and for pain and suffering- punitive damages, and attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses.[14]
On July 21, 2022, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment contending that Plaintiff had failed to timely provide an expert report in this case, thereby necessitating judgment in favor of Defendants and the dismissal of Plaintiff's claims.[15] On July 26, 2022, following the filing of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiff tendered his expert report to Defendants, notedly over a month after the June 21, 2022 expert report deadline. Plaintiff did not seek leave for the late disclosure of his expert witness nor did the Plaintiff demonstrate good cause for his failure to comply with the Court's Scheduling Order. Plaintiff contends that the admittedly late disclosure of his expert report cures the basis for Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.[16] Defendants do not challenge Plaintiff's untimely expert disclosure.
To help support his claims that exposure to the chemicals present in the oil spilled by Defendants caused his particular health symptoms, Plaintiff offers the report (“Report”) and testimony of Dr. Jerald Cook.[17] Dr. Cook is a retired Navy physician with expertise specifically as an occupational and environmental physician.[18] Dr. Cook's Report is not tailored directly to Plaintiff's claims; rather, Dr. Cook's generic causation Report has been utilized by numerous B3 plaintiffs, including many plaintiffs currently before this Court as well as in other cases before other sections of this court.[19] Accordingly, Dr. Cook's Report pertains only to general causation and not to specific causation.[20]
Defendants filed the instant Motion in limine and Motion for Summary Judgment on August 8, 2022. In their Motion in limine, Defendants contend that Dr. Cook should be excluded from testifying due to, inter alia, Dr. Cook's failure to identify the harmful level of exposure capable of causing Plaintiff's particular injuries for each chemical that Plaintiff alleges to have been exposed to. Because Dr. Cook should be excluded from testifying, Defendants argue, the Court should grant their Motion for Summary Judgment as Plaintiff is unable to establish general causation through expert testimony, a necessary requirement under controlling Circuit precedent. Plaintiff opposes both Motions, arguing that Dr. Cook's Report satisfies the Daubert standards for reliability and relevancy and, therefore, that summary judgment is inappropriate.
Blanks v. BP Expl. & Prod. (E.D. La. 2023)
Outcome: 02/13/2023 95 ORDER AND REASONS: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants' 71 Daubert Motion to Exclude the Causation Testimony of Plaintiff's Expert, Dr. Jerald Cook is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' 72 Motion for Summary Judgment Due to Plaintiff's Inability to Prove Medical Causation is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' 62 Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED as moot. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's claims against Defendants are DISMISSED with prejudice. Signed by Judge Wendy B Vitter on 2/13/2023.(mmv) (Entered: 02/13/2023)
02/13/2023 96 JUDGMENT: IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that there be judgment in favor of Defendants, BP Exploration & Production, Inc., BP America Production Company, BP p.l.c., Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., Transocean Holdings, LLC, and Transocean Deepwater, Inc., and against Plaintiff, Romond Blanks, DISMISSING WITH PREJUDICE Romond Blanks' claims asserted against BP Exploration & Production, Inc., BP America Production Company, BP p.l.c., Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., Transocean Holdings, LLC, and Transocean Deepwater, Inc., in his Complaint. Signed by Judge Wendy B Vitter on 2/13/2023.(mmv) (Entered: 02/13/2023)
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: