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Gladney v. Milam9/21/2005
itted the affidavit of Brian Queiser, an engineer employed by Firestone, in support of their motion for summary judgment. Queiser stated that as a result of his work experience he had acquired knowledge of tire engineering, design and testing. He explained that tire failure by itself did not indicate the tire was defective, since a number of conditions other than a manufacturing or design defect can cause tire failure, such as a puncture, impact damage or overloading. He said that visual and scientific examination of the tire's physical condition, and often testing, is necessary to determine the specific cause of tire failure and that as a result of the tire's unavailability, he was unable to render an opinion as to the cause of any alleged failure.
In opposition to summary judgment, the plaintiffs submitted photographs of the damaged tire , the police accident report, a witness statement and the affidavits of John Tielking, Ph.D. and Sidney Youngblood. The accident witness, Bill Dixon, stated that he heard a "pop" as he drove past the plaintiffs' van, which lost control and ran off the road. Dixon said that he went to the van to check on the passengers and saw that the front passenger tire had blown out, with a split of approximately eight inches along the inner sidewall of the tire. Dixon had not noticed anything in the roadway that might have punctured the tire.
Plaintiffs' expert Tielking was an engineer who had previously worked as a consultant on tire performance with Firestone. Tielking stated that he had reviewed the state police accident report noting "tire failure" as a cause of the accident, the witness statement, the photographs of the damaged tire and Queiser's affidavit. Tielking opined that the "most probable" cause of the tire failure was fatigue of the polyester cords in the sidewall resulting from a manufacturing defect such as cord spacing that exceeded manufacturer specifications. However, Tielking acknowledged that the cause of the tire blow out "could also have been a design defect," such as the need for a 2-ply sidewall for this size of tire, and that cord fatigue "may" have been caused by improper maintenance, such as under inflation or overloading.
Youngblood, a manager of a tire sales and service store, stated that he was experienced in tire changing and repair and was familiar with Firestone tires. Based on his review of photographs of the damaged tire, Youngblood opined that the tire blowout occurred "without any outside obstruction or puncture," indicating a defect in the tire's construction. However, in his deposition, Youngblood acknowledged that he had not seen the actual tire, that he did not know the exact nature of the tire defect and could not say what caused the defect.
Plaintiffs contend the district court improperly made a credibility determination when considering this conflicting expert testimony. In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the district court cannot make credibility determinations, but must assume that all affiants are credible. Hutchinson v. Knights of Columbus Council 5747, 03-1533 (La. 2/20/04), 866 So.2d 228. The court must draw those inferences from the undisputed facts that are most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Independent Fire Insurance Co. v. Sunbeam Corporation, 99-2181 (La. 2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226.
Contrary to plaintiffs' contention, the court did not weigh the credibility of the parties' experts. Rather, the court reviewed the expert affidavits and accepted the opinions of plaintiffs' experts as true. However, the court found that the opinions of Tielking and Youngblood were not sufficient to create a factual issue regarding a defective condition in the tire .
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