Siring v. Oregon State Board of Higher Education ex rel. Eastern Oregon University

927 F. Supp. 2d 1069, 2013 WL 2580217, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83782
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJune 11, 2013
DocketCase No. 3:11-cv-1407-SI
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 927 F. Supp. 2d 1069 (Siring v. Oregon State Board of Higher Education ex rel. Eastern Oregon University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Siring v. Oregon State Board of Higher Education ex rel. Eastern Oregon University, 927 F. Supp. 2d 1069, 2013 WL 2580217, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83782 (D. Or. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MICHAEL H. SIMON, District Judge.

In this lawsuit alleging employment discrimination based on age and disability, Defendant Oregon State Board of Higher Education moves to exclude the expert report and testimony of Jean Stockard, Ph.D., Plaintiffs expert relating to the tenure-track review, evaluation, and termination processes and procedures in the Oregon University System and the process and procedure used in Defendant’s decision to deny tenure to Plaintiff and terminate her employment. Dkt. 56. For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

STANDARDS

Federal Rule of Evidence (“FRE”) 702 establishes that expert opinion evidence is admissible if (1) the witness is sufficiently qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education; (2) the scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (3) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (4) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (5) the expert has reliably applied these principles and methods. Fed.R.Evid. 702. Under Daubert1 and its progeny, the district court’s inquiry into admissibility is a flexible one. Alaska Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Avis Budget Grp., Inc., 709 F.3d 872, 882 (9th Cir.2013). In evaluating proffered expert testimony, the trial court is “a gatekeeper, not a fact finder.” Primiano v. Cook, 598 F.3d 558, 565 (9th Cir.2010) (quotations and citation omitted).

“The trial court must assure that the expert testimony ‘both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand.’ ” Id. at 564 (quoting Daubert, 509 U.S. at 597, 113 S.Ct. 2786). “Expert opinion testimony is relevant if the knowledge underlying it has a valid connection to the pertinent inquiry. And it is reliable if the knowledge underlying it has a reliable basis in the knowledge and experience of the relevant discipline.” Id. at 565 (quotations and citation omitted). “Shaky but admissible evidence is to be attacked by cross examination, contrary evidence, and attention to the burden of proof, not exclusion.” Id. at 564 (citation omitted). The judge is “supposed to screen the jury from unreliable nonsense opinions, but not exclude opinions merely because they are impeachable. The district court is not tasked with deciding whether the expert is [1072]*1072right or wrong, just whether his [or her] testimony has substance such that it would be helpful to a jury.” Alaska Rent-A-Car, 709 F.3d at 883.

The test of reliability is flexible. Primiano, 598 F.3d at 564. For scientific opinions, the court must assess the expert’s reasoning or methodology, using as appropriate such criteria as testability, publication in peer reviewed literature, and general acceptance. Id. at 564. But these factors are “meant to be helpful, not definitive, and the trial court has discretion to decide how to test an expert’s reliability as well as whether the testimony is reliable, based on the particular circumstances of the particular case.” Id. (quotations and citations omitted). With nonscientific experts, “the Daubert factors (peer review, publication, potential error rate, etc.) simply are not applicable” and “reliability depends heavily on the knowledge and experience of the expert rather than the methodology or theory behind it.” United States v. Hankey, 203 F.3d 1160, 1169 (9th Cir.2000). The test “is not the correctness of the expert’s conclusions but the soundness of his [or her] methodology,” and when an expert meets the threshold established by Rule 702, the expert may testify and the factfinder decides how much weight to give that testimony. Id. at 564-65.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Rosemary Siring was a tenured professor at the University of Montana when she took a position as a tenure-track professor at Eastern Oregon University (“EOU”) in 2006.2 In her third year of instruction at EOU, she was evaluated. At the end of her fourth year of instruction, she was placed on a one-year terminal contract. Siring alleges that she was terminated based on her age and perceived disability.

Plaintiffs proffered expert, Jean Stockard, Ph.D., has worked at the University of Oregon for nearly 40 years. She is a faculty member and served on and chaired the elected personnel committees of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University. Those committees review personnel cases, including tenure and promotion decisions, and make recommendations as to their disposition. During her career, Dr. Stockard has: (1) served as Department Head and Associate Head at the University of Oregon; (2) served as an external reviewer for other universities, where she provided independent reviews of candidates for promotion and tenure; (3) served three terms as President of the University of Oregon chapter of the American Association of University Professors (“AAUP”) and one term as President of the state of Oregon chapter of the AAUP; (4) served as chair of the AAUP committees charged with addressing issues related to academic freedom and discrimination based on gender; (5) served as a grievance counselor, assisting individuals navigating the University’s grievance process; (6) served on appeal committees, reviewing appealed decisions and making recommendations as to their proper disposition; (7) developed tenure processes for the University of Oregon in compliance with the Oregon Administrative Rules (“OARs”); (8) reviewed tenure processes for compliance with the OARs; and (9) engaged in scholarly research on the ways in which institu[1073]*1073tional practices and policies affect the career progression of women in science and engineering sectors of the academy.3

Dr. Stockard was provided with more than 5,500 pages of documents from this case, including more than 3,000 pages produced by Defendant. Dr. Stockard carefully reviewed the deposition transcripts of Siring, Dean Lauritzen, Provost Jaeger, Dr. McNerney, Dr. Costi, and Dr. Evans. Among the exhibits and discovery documents that Dr. Stockard received and reviewed were e-mail communications, written reports, and the EOU Promotion and Tenure Handbook. Dr. Stockard prepared a written opinion and, in response to Defendant’s Motion in Limine, a supplemental opinion, in which she opines about the Oregon University System’s tenure review process generally and EOU’s tenure review process specifically with respect to Siring (“Stockard Report”) and (“Stockard Supplemental Report”). Dkts. 37 and 60, respectively. Dr. Stockard concludes, among other things, that there were significant deficiencies in the tenure review process with respect to Siring and that there was “no scholarly reason for Siring’s dismissal” that was apparent from the materials reviewed by Dr. Stockard. Dkt. 37 at 8.

DISCUSSION

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Bluebook (online)
927 F. Supp. 2d 1069, 2013 WL 2580217, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/siring-v-oregon-state-board-of-higher-education-ex-rel-eastern-oregon-ord-2013.