Federal Court rejects claim that expert testimony is too speculative
V & M Star Steel sued Centimark Corporation, claiming that it suffered more than three million dollars in property damage when roofing contractors negligently left bundled steel on V & M's roof during repairs. The Plaintiff argued that when roofers encountered a rain storm, they left supplies in a haphazard and unsafe condition, and bundled steel slid down the roof, destroying structures on the ground below.
The claim was dismissed by the trial judge, who held that the Plaintiff's experts were simply "speculating" that the cause of the materials leaving the roof was the Defendant's negligent failure to secure the steel bundles. The Sixth Circuit rejected this conclusion, finding ample evidence in the record to support the opinions of the expert witnesses.