Retirement Plan Expert Witness’ State of Mind Opinions Excluded
Posted on October 1, 2024 by Expert Witness Profiler
In 2016, Defendants Signode Industrial Group, LLC, and Illinois Tool Works, Inc. unlawfully terminated promised healthcare benefits for Plaintiffs, a class of retirees and their dependents. On March 26, 2019, this Court enjoined Defendants to reinstate Plaintiffs’ healthcare benefits that were in effect before January 1, 2016. Defendants implemented a new healthcare benefits plan effective January 1, 2020, but Plaintiffs contend that the new plan is deficient. In other words, Plaintiffs alleged that the 2020 Plan does not “reinstate, restore, and replicate” the 2002 Plan.
Plaintiffs hired a healthcare consultant, Stuart Wohl to assess how the 2020 Plan compares to the 2002 Plan. Defendants filed a motion to exclude Wohl’s report and testimony. Defendants argued that the Wohl Report must be excluded because Wohl’s opinions allegedly “are not supported by appropriate citations and/or corresponding explanations,” are offered “about topics he does not understand,” and are “simply Wohl’s own speculation about retirees’ state of mind.”
The parties did not dispute that Wohl is qualified as an expert to offer testimony on healthcare plans.
Retirement Plan Expert Witness
Stuart I. Wohl is a Senior Vice President and Senior Benefits Consultant for Segal, a human resource and benefits consulting firm hired by Plaintiffs. Wohl is a licensed Life and Health Insurance Consultant in multiple states with more than thirty years of healthcare consulting experience, specializing in retirement healthcare.
Discussion by the Court
The Wohl Report provides Wohl’s opinions with respect to the material differences between the 2002 Plan and the 2020 Plan, along with additional opinions related to the sufficiency of the 2020 Plan in restoring the retirees’ healthcare.
Wohl first concluded in the Wohl Report that the 2020 Plan “is and will be understood by the retirees as being materially different from the [2002 Plan]” until it was discontinued in January 2016. He also concluded that Defendants’ 2020 Plan “overcharges retirees and discourages retirees from participating in” that Plan. Wohl stated that Defendants’ proposed remedies to rectify the period between 2016 and 2019 when the retirees had no healthcare “imposes unfair burdens on the retirees.”
Wohl Report appears to be based on Wohl’s speculations supported by his own expertise
The Court held that the Wohl Report frequently makes declarations that begin with “in my opinion,” and then provides Wohl’s professional opinion on a certain matter related to the Plans, without citations or further explanations for that opinion. For instance, the Wohl Report assesses that the 2020 Plan provides different coverage for ambulances, chiropractic care, nursing, and vision but fails to cite to either Plan in support of that assessment.
In other words, the Wohl Report does not sufficiently connect Wohl’s expertise to the opinions presented in the Report.
Wohl Report improperly contains references to retirees’ states of mind
State of mind opinions are not proper expert testimony when the expert provides no basis or foundation for making those opinions. The Court observed that Wohl makes these conclusions about the retirees’ state of mind without providing any evidence that he spoke to any of the retirees.
Wohl Report contains legal conclusions about remedies
Certain sections of the Wohl Report contain inadmissible legal conclusions about what remedies Wohl believes are available and adequate in this case. The remedies available in this action are a disputed issue in this case that are the subject of one of Plaintiffs’ pending motions. The Court held that it is outside the scope of appropriate expert testimony for the Wohl Report to make legal conclusions about remedies.
Held
The Court granted the Defendants’ motion to exclude the report and testimony of Stuart Wohl.
Key Takeaways:
- Because Wohl had no foundation to make state of mind opinions, they constitute inadmissible witness testimony.
- Wohl summarizes and opines over various elements of the Plans without explaining how his experience yields his conclusions and without citing sufficient evidence to substantiate his opinions. Because the Court’s gatekeeping function “requires more than simply ‘taking the expert’s word for it,’ ” the opinions and conclusions about the Plans in the Wohl Report are not sufficiently reliable to be admissible.
- Rule 704 of the Federal Rules of Evidence permits expert witnesses to testify as to the ultimate issue in an action, but it does not authorize those opinions to be legal conclusions that will determine the outcome of the case. Wohl Report contains inadmissible legal conclusions about what remedies Wohl believes are available and adequate in this case.
Because the Report is based on unsupported opinions, inappropriate state
of mind opinions, and legal conclusions, it is unreliable and not helpful to the Court.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Stone Et Al V. Signode Industrial Group Llc Et Al |
| Docket Number: | 1:17cv5360 |
| Court: | United States District Court, Illinois Northern |
| Order Date: | September 30, 2024 |
