On March 22, 2021, Plaintiff Brandon Long, an employee of Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co. (“H&P”), was supervising the de-rigging of an oil rig in the Unita Basin near Myton, Utah.
H&P hired a subcontractor to assist with moving the drilling rig and other equipment, which in turn hired Defendant J&C Enterprises, Inc. (“J&C”) to operate a crane as part of the de-rigging process. While Long was on the rig, employees of J&C allegedly removed some pins from a rig deck, which caused the load to shift and swing uncontrolled towards Long, hitting Long’s foot and pinning it between two other pieces of equipment. Long claimed J&C was negligent in securing the rig deck to the crane hook and has sued to recover for the injuries he sustained as a result.
In defense of these claims, J&C has designated Daniel T. Reinke as an expert in oil and gas operations to testify on its behalf. Reinke opined that Long’s injury was the result of his own actions.
Long filed a motion to strike Reinke’s opinions pursuant to Rule 702 as his “statements were simply lay testimony given the imprimatur of expert opinion and/or were unhelpful to the jury because they were untethered from any authority suggesting the customs and practices of the industry.”
Oil & Gas Expert Witness
Daniel Reinke is a professional engineer who has over 48 years of experience, both as an employee and consultant, in oil and gas operations. He has served as an operator, drilling engineer, reservoir engineer, and production engineer on over 2,000 oil and gas wells. He is the founder and president of an operating company which has served as operator and contract operator of more than 100 wells.
Discussion by the Court
The Court admitted Reinke’s opinions that Long’s injuries were the result of his own actions
The Court held that since Long has not shown Reinke’s articulation of industry customs and practices is contrary to established standards or otherwise infirm, Reinke’s statement of those standards based on his own experience is sufficient for admissibility. In other words, there is nothing objectionable in Reinke’s statements that everyone on site has Stop Work Authority, that each employee is responsible for his own safety while working at the site and must follow his own employer’s safety policies, that each contractor performs specialized services requiring different skills and safety protocols, and that it is a basic safety rule of the oilfield not to locate oneself between two unstable pieces of equipment.
The Court added that Reinke’s opinion that J&C was not directing the work reasonably appeared to be an outgrowth of his observations that each contractor was responsible for its own piece of the de-rigging process and that, as the owner of the rig, H&P was responsible for directing the work.
Moreover, it is unlikely a lay jury could be expected to know the layout and components of an oil rig or how the various parts of the rig and the equipment involved in the derigging process move and interact with one another which is why the Court admitted Reinke’s opinions that Long’s injuries were the result of his own actions and not the fault of J&C, as well as his suggestion that Long would not have been injured had he located himself anywhere else.
According to Rule 704, the Court found that Reinke explained the bases of his conclusions as to the relative fault of each party, and to the extent his testimony may embrace an ultimate issue in the case, it seemed likely to “assist, rather than supplant, the jury’s judgment.”
One of Reinke’s opinions struck the Court as potentially problematic
However, Reinke’s conclusion that, “based on the incident report published by H&P, Long did not follow the safety policies and procedures of his employer” struck the Court as potentially problematic.
Since Reinke did not describe the contents of the report; it may be the conclusion whether Long violated his employer’s safety policies is self-evident from the document itself.
Held
The Court granted in part and denied in part the Plaintiff’s motion to strike the testimony of Daniel Reinke.
Key Takeaway:
The Court held that there is nothing objectionable in Reinke’s statements that everyone on site has Stop Work Authority, that each employee is responsible for his own safety while working at the site and must follow his own employer’s safety policies, that each contractor performs specialized services requiring different skills and safety protocols, and that it is a basic safety rule of the oilfield not to locate oneself between two unstable pieces of equipment. However, Reinke’s conclusion that, “based on the incident report published by H&P, Long did not follow the safety policies and procedures of his employer” struck the Court as potentially problematic since it was not at all apparent why it required expert interpretation.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Long V. J & C Enterprises, Incorporated |
| Docket Number: | 1:22cv2999 |
| Court: | United States District Court, Colorado |
| Order Date: | May 15, 2024 |
