Plaintiff brought a negligence claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging that his work with paints, particularly with solvents/Benzene, caused him to develop Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. The District Court granted summary judgment for our client on the grounds that Plaintiff’s expert failed to evaluate competing epidemiological studies and explain why she credited some studies and discredited others when forming her causation opinion. Plaintiff appealed the decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Cetrulo LLP briefed and argued the issue in front of the First Circuit. On April 25, 2016, the First Circuit affirmed the District Court’s summary judgment order in favor of our client. The Court held that “eliminating a number of potential causes – without properly and explicitly ‘ruling in’ a cause—is simply of ‘little assistance.” As a result, the First Circuit struck the specific causation opinion of Plaintiff’s expert as being inadmissible under the requirements of Rule 702.
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