| Full Citation | Michelle Phillips v. Industrial Machine and Nicholas Cusick; No. S-97-1263. 597 N.W.2d 377; 257 Neb. 256 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Nebraska |
| Facts of Case | Plaintiff sustained cervical injury in a vehicular accident. As a result of injury, she was unable to continue in her jobs with the Office of Mental Retardation and Dillard's and began operating a day care center out of her home. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision not to allow the rehabilitation expert's testimony as it lacked probative value and was unfairly prejudicial. |
| Challenge Issues | Lack of proper foundation for determination of work disability - weak medical evidence; treating doctor was not asked to place any work restrictions on the plaintiff, though he did state that she had permanent cervical strain. Broad definition of work disability utilized from The New Worklife Expectancy Tables |
| VEI Observation | In Phillips, there was no medical opinion supporting the expert’s opinion that the plaintiff had a disability. The court stated that "without any evidence that Phillips was in fact disabled, Marchisio's opinion, which relied on the conclusion that Phillips was disabled, lacked foundation and probative value." The worklife tables used by the expert in Phillips were an older version of the tables that did not break out disability into severe and not severe categories. The expert in Phillips used an average disabled statistic without regard for how the plaintiff may differ from that statistic. Therefore, based on an insufficient medical foundation and on his inappropriate use of the worklife tables, his opinion was not relevant to the case. The data now used by VEI are newer and have specificity lacking in the Phillips case. In addition, VEI experts using the worklife tables consider the specifics of the plaintiff's situation, such as age, education, work history, and work-related limitations, before placing the plaintiff on the disability continuum. |
| Results | Opinion (July 16, 1999) |
Last modified: Tuesday November 29, 2011 04:11 PM