Healthcare Staffing Expert Partly Allowed to Opine on Organizational Structure

This is a breach of contract case. Plaintiff Staffactory, LLC specializes in recruiting healthcare professionals. Defendant Visa Solutions Healthcare, LLC places qualified healthcare candidates in long-term employment positions.

In October 2021, the parties entered into a Recruitment Services Agreement (the "Agreement"). Under the Agreement, Staffactory recruits nurses internationally and submits qualified candidates to Visa with the goal of having the submitted candidates employed by healthcare facilities in the United States. In discussions leading up to the Agreement's formation, Staffactory alleged that Visa made inaccurate representations regarding, among other things: (i) how many nurses Visa could place in U.S. healthcare facilities; (ii) Visa's experience with international nurse recruiting; (iii) contracts Visa had with other international recruiting companies; and (iv) how quickly submitted candidates could expect to start work in U.S. healthcare facilities after being accepted into Visa's program. Staffactory alleged that Visa's false representations and nondisclosures induced Staffactory to enter into the Agreement. Both parties contended that the other party breached the Agreement.

Staffactory designated Ronald G. Hoppe to testify as an expert witness at trial. Hoppe prepared an expert report laying out his opinions, specifically regarding Visa's "organizational structure and processes," its "pipeline of candidates," and its "work orders from its clients." Additionally, Hoppe offered his opinions on whether Visa could have placed 2,000 foreign nurses with U.S. employers—as Visa allegedly represented—and whether Visa could have had those nurses starting work within 10 to 16 months from when they were accepted into Visa's program. Visa filed a motion to strike or limit Hoppe's testimony, arguing that Hoppe's expert report failed to satisfy the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

Healthcare Staffing Expert Witness

Ronald George Hoppe has been involved in various aspects of the healthcare industry since 1988, including starting a number of healthcare enterprises in the United States and internationally.

Hoppe founded WorldWide Health Staff Solutions, Ltd. (“WWHS”), an industry leader in global recruitment.

Want to know more about the challenges Ronald Hoppe has faced? Get the full details with our Challenge Study report.

Discussion by the Court

Visa argued that Hoppe's testimony at trial should be stricken or limited because: (1) Hoppe is not qualified to testify as an expert; (2) his opinions are irrelevant; and (3) his opinions are unreliable.

In his report, Hoppe expresses, in relevant part, the following opinions:

• "Visa certainly knew [that it did not have the infrastructure, clients, or staff to perform as promised]";

• "Visa knew . . . that visa processing times would retrogress, possibly significantly, post COVID";

• "Visa knew [that Visa's representation that it had thousands of spots to fill was] false inasmuch as Ms. Brioso was in charge of the client side of Visa's business and was also interacting with Staffactory on behalf of Visa";

• "Visa must have known [that Visa had no exclusive agreements] since Kelly Brioso was in charge of both the recruitment side and the client side of Visa's business by October 2021"; and

• "Visa made a number of statements to Staffactory in October 2021 that Visa had to have known were untrue."

These opinions are beyond the scope of expert testimony and improper. Hoppe may not opine on Visa's state of mind, including what he believes Visa knew. It is the jury's job to draw conclusions on Visa's knowledge. Accordingly, the Court found that Hoppe's opinions regarding Visa's purported knowledge during the events at issue are inadmissible.

As for Visa's remaining arguments for excluding or limiting Hoppe's testimony, they are unpersuasive. Visa may challenge Hoppe's testimony through vigorous cross-examination at trial.

Held

The Court granted in part and denied in part Visa's motion to strike or limit Ronald Hoppe's expert testimony.

Key Takeaway

Under Rule 702, a trial court may exclude expert testimony if it usurps the jury's role in drawing conclusions about a defendant's state of mind. That is because an expert's credentials "do not place him in a better position than the jury to draw conclusions about a Defendant's state of mind."

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