Plaintiffs are current and former AutoZone employees, all of whom held roles as Store Managers between the years 2019 and 2022 and worked under district managers who oversaw operations in Montana.
Due to AutoZone’s demographic structure, the collective currently includes Plaintiffs that work in AutoZone stores outside of Montana. Plaintiffs alleged that AutoZone willfully misclassified them as overtime-exempt, denying them overtime compensation for hours of work in excess of forty hours per week, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Defendants moved to exclude Plaintiffs’ experts Dr. Liesl M. Fox and Ramona Powell.
Statistics Expert Witness
Liesl Mae Fox has been a statistical consultant for over twenty-five years, including conducting analyses in the fields of litigation and medical research, and has testified as an expert witness.
Human Resources Expert Witness
Ramona Powell is a nationally certified Senior Professional in Human Resources. With a proven track record as an expert witness, Powell provided professional opinions and testimony in a wide range of employment-related matters.
Discussion by the Court
A. Defendants’ motion to exclude expert Dr. Liesl Fox
Defendants sought to exclude Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Liesl Fox, from serving as an expert witness in this case. It appeared that Fox relied on data provided by Plaintiffs’ counsel to determine the average hours worked by each Plaintiff. According to Defendants, this data conflicts with the testimony of the individual Plaintiffs, rendering Fox’s opinions unreliable.
The Court was inclined to grant Defendants’ motion to exclude the testimony of expert Dr. Liesl Fox. The calculations of the remaining Plaintiffs’ average hours worked “constitute basic math that a jury can compute without the opinion of an expert.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Court reserves ruling on the motion at this time.
B. Defendants’ motion to exclude expert Ramona Powell
Next, Defendants requested that the Court exclude Ramona Powell pursuant to Rule 702 “because her report is unreliable, her testimony improperly invades the province of the jury by making legal conclusions, and allowing her testimony under such circumstances would confuse the jury and be unfairly prejudicial to AutoZone.” The Court reserves ruling on the motion at this time.
However, to the extent Powell offered opinions on the ultimate issue in this case—whether Defendants properly classified Plaintiffs as exempt from FLSA’s overtime requirements—such opinions will be excluded. These opinions invaded the province of the Court and/or the jury.
Held
The Court reserved ruling on both motions to exclude the testimony of Dr. Liesl Fox and Ramona Powell.
Key Takeaway
The Court must determine whether the witness is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, and whether the opinion will help the trier of fact.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Richter V. Autozoners, LLC |
| Docket Number: | 9:22cv47 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Montana |
| Order Date: | April 30, 2026 |
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