A doctors testimony was found not helpful to the jury because he lacked the expertise and would testify on the ultimate issue that the jury was to consider. Division I of the Court of Appeals heard an appeal from Mr. Williams who made multiple claims against Bose and Christensen and his boss: racial discrimination; disparate treatment; hostile work environment; unlawful retaliation; negligent hiring, retention, and supervision; and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Summary judgment was granted for Bose on all of Williams’s claims except for the hostile work environment claim, which proceeded to trial where the jury ruled in Bose’s favor.
Important to note in this decision is that the trial and appellate courts said “no” to the expert testifying. Exclusion of an expert is rare. Experts may qualify based on experience alone. Police officers routinely qualify without any education foundation based solely on their experience in the field.
ER 702 provides: “If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.” The law prohibits legal opinions on an ultimate legal issue under the guise of expert testimony. King County Fire Prot. Dist. No. 16 v. Housing Auth. of King County, 123 Wn.2d 819, 826 n.14, 872 P.2d 516 (1994).
In this case the Doctor Black’s testimony, which was that Mr. Williams suffered from depression and emotional distress was excluded because he had no training in law nor medicine. His testimony was offered to show, said the plaintiff, the general environment that existed in Mr. Williams workplace but the court found that it would have directly invaded the questions that only the jury decides.
Rule of Williams: Focus on Experts qualifications and the ultimate issue that the jury must decide and distinguish them from what the expert will testify to.
Jerry Williams v. Bose Corporation; Don Christensen and Jane Doe Christensen, No. 65713-5-I, Court of Appeals of Washington Division I., November 21, 2011.