382 F. Supp. 3d 687
E.D. Mich.2019Background
- Consolidated putative class actions allege FCA US LLC (Chrysler) sold vehicles with a defective monostable gear shifter and concealed the defect, causing class-wide overpayment and diminished value.
- Plaintiffs moved for class certification and offered expert affidavits (Justine Hastings on damages via conjoint analysis; Craig Rosenberg on human factors/design). Defendant opposed and submitted expert affidavits (Bruce Strombom on damages/depreciation and critiques of Hastings).
- Parties filed Daubert-style motions to exclude experts for the limited purpose of the Court's Rule 23 (class-certification) analysis.
- Strombom criticized Hastings’ conjoint approach and reported a separate regression analysis of used-car depreciation; Hastings proposed a conjoint survey to estimate point-of-sale overpayment; Rosenberg conducted a driving study comparing the Monostable shifter to a Polystable alternative.
- The court applied Rule 702/Daubert principles at the class-certification stage to assess relevance and reliability of the proffered methodologies for determining whether damages and defect issues can be addressed class-wide.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Dr. Bruce Strombom may opine on the validity of Dr. Hastings' conjoint survey and assumptions | Hastings: Strombom is unqualified on conjoint methods and never performed conjoint analysis; his critiques are unreliable | Strombom: qualified economist to critique factual/economic assumptions (pricing negotiation, knowledge of defect, recall effects) underlying Hastings' model | Court: Excluded Strombom's opinions criticizing Hastings' conjoint method and survey assumptions (Strombom admitted lack of conjoint expertise); defendant may use Dr. Befurt for that purpose |
| Whether Strombom may testify about used-car market depreciation to rebut plaintiffs' increased-depreciation claim | Plaintiffs: Used-car data irrelevant to point-of-sale damages and Strombom admitted he cannot translate resale data into point-of-sale diminution | Defendants: Strombom's used-car analysis shows no post-recall accelerated depreciation, rebutting plaintiffs' depreciation theory | Court: Allowed Strombom to testify about his used-car depreciation analysis (relevant to post-sale depreciation claims) but not about point-of-sale damages estimation |
| Admissibility of Dr. Justine Hastings' conjoint-based damages opinion for class-certification | Hastings: Conjoint and discrete-choice econometric methods are standard, feasible to estimate but-for prices and class-wide damages; methodological details can be finalized | FCA: Hastings lacks auto-industry experience; her survey design lacks finalized specifics; terms (e.g., "risk") vague; surveys can't replicate showroom, hands-on experience | Court: Denied exclusion; found Hastings qualified and conjoint methodology widely accepted for point-of-sale damages; remaining disputes go to weight, not admissibility |
| Admissibility of Dr. Craig Rosenberg's human-factors study comparing Monostable vs Polystable shifters | Plaintiffs: Rosenberg is qualified in human-factors and conducted a video-recorded, controlled driving study showing many more errors with Monostable design | FCA: Rosenberg lacks automotive-engineering credentials; methodology (video coding) subjective; comparator shifter (2019) wasn’t on market in 2012 | Court: Denied exclusion; Rosenberg qualified in human-factors engineering and his study is sufficiently reliable and probative for class-certification purposes; criticisms go to weight |
Key Cases Cited
- Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (gatekeeping requirement for expert admissibility)
- Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (Daubert principles apply to non-scientific expert testimony)
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338 (class-certification predominance and role of expert evidence)
- Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27 (damages model must align with plaintiffs' liability theory for class treatment)
- In re ConAgra Foods, Inc., 90 F. Supp. 3d 919 (approving conjoint analysis for point-of-sale damages in consumer class actions)
- In re Scrap Metal Antitrust Litigation, 527 F.3d 517 (district court’s gatekeeping on expert reliability; assessing common questions)