Hendrix v. Evenflo Co., Inc.

Before CARNES, HULL and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

Plaintiff-Appellant Rhonda Hendrix alleges that her son, G.P., sustained traumatic brain injuries when a child restraint system manufactured by Defendant-Appellee Evenflo Company, Inc., (“Evenflo”), malfunctioned during a minor traffic accident. Hendrix further alleges that those brain injuries caused G.P. to develop autism spectrum disorder (“ASD”) and a spinal cord defect known as syringomyelia. The district court excluded testimony from two of Hendrix’s expert witnesses that the accident caused G.P.’s ASD. The district court concluded that the methods used by Hendrix’s experts were not sufficiently reliable under Daubert v. Merrell Down Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786 (1993).Hendrix v. Evenflo Co., Inc., 255 F.R.D. 568 (N.D. Fla. 2009). The district court then granted partial summary judgment to Evenflo on Hendrix’s compensatory damages claim, determining that without the excluded testimony there was no reliable evidence to support Hendrix’s theory that the accident caused G.P.’s ASD. Hendrix voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice, her remaining damages claims and filed a notice of appeal.