Client Advisory

In Slatowski v. Sig Sauer, the Third Circuit was called to determine whether Pennsylvania law requires a plaintiff in a products liability case to put forward a causation expert. Their answer? Not always.

When Slatowski, an immigration agent, drew his Sig Sauer P320 from his holster, it fired, discharging a bullet into his hip. He alleges that he did not touch the trigger, and that it fired because of Sig Sauer’s defective design. He presented two experts, both of whom explained the design of the gun and opined that it was defectively designed. Neither, however, could testify as to whether the defective design caused the discharge.

The Third Circuit found that, under Pennsylvania law, whether a question is too complicated for a jury depends on whether, given all the admissible evidence, the jury could answer the question without speculating. It further held that a plaintiff does not need a causation expert, even if the subject matter is complex, when lay testimony can tell the story of causation. In applying that standard to Slatowski, it explained that while the technical design of a gun is not common knowledge (and therefore required expert testimony), the causation question turned on questions answerable without expert testimony: whether Slatowski was telling the truth; whether something could have gotten into the holster; and whether the alternative safeties would have stopped debris or the holster from triggering the gun to fire.

Key Takeaway: In products liability matters it is more important than ever to explore the credibility and viability of factual claims, since those claims alone will be enough to bring the question of causation to the jury.