Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Navarro

90 S.W.3d 747, 2002 WL 1368752
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 4, 2002
Docket04-99-00924-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 90 S.W.3d 747 (Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Navarro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Navarro, 90 S.W.3d 747, 2002 WL 1368752 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

Opinion by

KAREN ANGELINI, Justice.

This is a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) case in which Cenobio E. Navarro, representative of the Estate of Manuela Navarro, claims the exposure to diesel exhaust at the Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo, Texas, caused Manuela Navarro’s bone marrow cancer and resulting death. Following a jury trial, the trial court rendered judgment on the jury’s verdict in Navarro’s favor and awarded $2 million in damages. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company d/b/a Union Pacific Railroad Company (“Union Pacific”) appeals on two grounds: (1) that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of Navarro’s expert witnesses because it was unreliable and (2) the evidence is legally insufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict in Navarro’s favor. We agree with Union Pacific and reverse the trial court’s judgment and render judgment in Union Pacific’s favor.

Factual and Procedural Background

Manuela Navarro (“Manuela”) worked as a part-time clerk at the Union Pacific Railroad Company rail yard in Laredo, Texas from 1974 until 1994. During this period of time, Manuela worked in various capacities and locations in the rail yard in which she alleged she was exposed to diesel exhaust. Manuela became ill in 1994 and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Manuela sued Union Pacific, alleging the diesel exhaust she was exposed to while working at Union Pacific caused her disease. She died in 1999, while the trial was ongoing.

Before the case was tried, Union Pacific filed Motions to Exclude Expert Testimony. After conducting hearings, the trial court denied the motions, and the case proceeded to trial. Union Pacific continued to object to Navarro’s expert witnesses’ testimony on the grounds that such testimony was scientifically unreliable. The trial court overruled the objections, however, and Navarro’s experts’ testimony was heard and considered by the jury. The jury found in Navarro’s favor, and the trial court entered judgment in the amount of $2 million against Union Pacific. On appeal, Union Pacific contends that Navarro’s expert witness testimony was unreliable and should have been excluded. Thus, according to Union Pacific, as a matter of law, there was no admissible evidence to prove Manuela’s bone marrow cancer was caused by exposure to diesel exhaust. Navarro argues, on the other hand, that the trial court acted within her discretion in admitting his expert witness’s testimony [750]*750and that he presented sufficient evidence under the standard imposed by the FELA.

Standard op Review-Expert Testimony

We review evidentiary rulings, including rulings on expert testimony, for an abuse of discretion. See E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549, 558 (Tex.1995). Where expert testimony is not grounded in the methods and procedures of science, it amounts to nothing more than subjective belief or unsupported speculation. Id. at 557. In Robinson, the Texas Supreme Court adopted the test set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), which held that in order to be admissible, expert testimony must be relevant and reliable. In Robinson, the supreme court set forth a non-exclusive list of factors for the courts, acting as gatekeeper, to consider in determining the reliability of expert testimony, as follows:

(1) the extent to which the theory has been or can be tested;
(2) the extent to which the technique relies upon the subjective interpretation of the expert;
(3) whether the theory has been subjected to peer review and/or publication;
(4) the technique’s potential rate of error;
(5) whether the underlying theory or technique has been generally accepted as valid by the relevant scientific community; and
(6) the non-judicial uses which have been made of the theory or technique.

Id. at 557.

The supreme court, recognizing that the Robinson-factors may not apply to non-scientific experts who base their opinions on individual experience, adopted the “analytical gap” analysis in Gammill v. Jack Williams Chevrolet, Inc., 972 S.W.2d 713, 727 (Tex.1998). Under this analysis, the expert may testify to his observations and experience, but still must show some basis for the opinion to demonstrate its reliability. In performing its gatekeeping role, the court “may conclude that there is simply too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion proffered.” Id. at 726.

Where the trial court has admitted the expert testimony and the appellant challenges, on appeal, the expert testimony as constituting “no evidence,” we consider whether the expert testimony is reliable under a de novo standard of review. See Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706, 710-720 (Tex.1997); Austin v. Kerr-McGee Refining Corp., 25 S.W.3d 280, 285 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2000, no pet.); Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. v. Atterbury, 978 S.W.2d 183, 192 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 1998, pet. denied); see generally, Ricky J. Poole and Kimberly S. Keller, Jury Erosion: The Effects of Robinson, Havner, & Gammill on the Role of Texas Juries, 32 St. Mary’s L.J. 383,418-420 (2001) (discussing de novo standard of review when trial court admits expert testimony). And, where the “no evidence” challenge is brought against causation experts, the proponent of the evidence must exclude other plausible causes of the injury with reasonable certainty. Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 720.

In cases brought under the FELA, the plaintiffs burden of proof has been referred to as a “featherweight” burden. See Rogers v. Missouri Pacific R.R. Co., 352 U.S. 500, 506-07, 77 S.Ct. 443, 1 L.Ed.2d 493 (1957); Maritime Overseas Corp. v. Ellis, 971 S.W.2d 402, 406 (Tex.1998). Under the FELA, the test of a jury case is simply “whether the proof justifies with reason the conclusion that [751]*751employer negligence played any part, even the slightest, in producing the injury or death for which the claimant seeks damages.” Ellis, 971 S.W.2d at 406. This lower burden under the FELA, however, has not been generally applied to the admissibility of expert testimony. See Claar v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., 29 F.3d 499, 503 (9th Cir.1994); In re Paoli R.R. Yard PCB Litig., Nos. 86-2229, 87-1190, 87-1258, 87-3227, 2000 WL 274262 *2 (E.D.Pa. March 7, 2000); Savage v. Union Pacific R.R. Co., 67 F.Supp.2d 1021, 1029 (W.D.Ark.1999). In an FELA case, the Daubert

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
90 S.W.3d 747, 2002 WL 1368752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-pacific-railroad-v-navarro-texapp-2002.