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On January 12, 2009, the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland, Ohio, granted Goodrich Corporation's Motion to Exclude Plaintiff's Conspiracy Expert, Professor Gerald Markowitz.  After extensive briefing and Rule 104 hearings, Justice Francis E. Sweeney found that the plaintiff's claimed "conspiracy" expert's opinions as to the alleged conspiratorial actions and motives of "the vinyl industry" were to be excluded. Judge Sweeney excluded the testimony because it fell within the province of the jurors, and it was an improper attempt to introduce expert opinion as to the intent and motive of defendants.

The plaintiff had alleged that her decedent husband contracted hepatic angiosarcoma, a form of liver cancer, as a result of his occupational exposure to vinyl chloride monomer between 1955 and 1974, while employed at a polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") manufacturing facility.  In addition, the plaintiff claimed a conspiracy, among vinyl chloride manufacturers and users, to withhold and mischaracterize scientific data relating to health risks of vinyl chloride. The court found that Professor Markowitz's "expertise," limited purely to his interpretation of the documents produced in litigation and provided by plaintiffs' counsel, invaded the responsibility of the jury.  The court also found that Professor Markowitz held no scientific expertise and was not qualified to testify as to the state of the art of the evolving science.  In addition, the court found that Professor Markowitz's opinions related to "scholarly arguments" for the rationale, intent and motive of various entities was more appropriately  the task of counsel in argument rather than be given from the expert witness stand.

The court also excluded, in part, the plaintiff's industrial hygienist's opinions. Mr. James Jones' exposure estimates were unreliable and based in no part upon any evidence relating to the specific exposure that the decedent may have seen.

Timothy Coughlin, Thomas Feher and Andrea Daloia of Thompson Hine LLP in Cleveland, Ohio, who represent Goodrich Corporation and other companies on a national basis in vinyl chloride litigation, were successful in obtaining this ruling.

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