Weaver v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc.

Weaver v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc.

Opinion

ORDER

This is a class action alleging that Defendants have marketed their dog foods as being natural and of high-quality, and sold them at a premium price, when their advertisements were misleading at best, [*2]  meaning that the products' price was unfairly inflated. (Docket #41). Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of the case in its entirety. (Docket #46). Plaintiff has filed his own motion for class certification. (Docket #50). The parties have also moved to exclude the opinions of various experts pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993). (Docket #71, #81, #96, #107, #121, and #126). The Court will herein address only one such motion—Defendants' motion to exclude two of Plaintiff's damages experts, Jon Krosnick ("Krosnick") and Colin Weir ("Weir"). (Docket #71). It appears to the Court that the motion is pivotal to the case and may drastically change the parties' approaches to the litigation moving forward.

Rule 702 provides that parties may propound opinion testimony from a witness if that witness is qualified as an expert by way of knowledge, skill, or experience. Fed. Evid. 702. To warrant admission of such opinion testimony, the propounding party must establish that:

(a) the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue;

(b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data;

(c) [*3]  the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and

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