Waddell v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc. et al

Filing 55

ORDER & REASONS: ORDERED that Defendants' 42 Daubert motion to exclude Cook is GRANTED. FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' 43 motion for summary judgment is GRANTED, and Waddell's claims against them are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Signed by Judge Barry W Ashe on 7/25/2022. (clc)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

TYRELL WADDELL

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO. 17-4271

BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
INC., et al.

SECTION M (2)

ORDER & REASONS
Before the Court is a Daubert motion in limine to exclude the general causation opinions
of plaintiff’s medical expert Dr. Jerald Cook filed by defendants BP Exploration & Production
Inc., BP America Production Company, BP p.l.c., Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Transocean
Holdings LLC, Transocean Deepwater, Inc., and Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc.
(collectively, “Defendants”).1 Plaintiff Tyrell Waddell responds in opposition.2
Also before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment in which they argue
that the case should be dismissed because Waddell cannot prove general causation without Cook’s
opinions.3 Waddell responds in opposition.4
Defendants’ motions here are nearly identical to those filed by Defendants, and granted by
this Court, in other B3 cases. See, e.g., Carpenter v. BP Expl. & Prod., Inc., No. 17-3645, R. Doc.
64 (E.D. La. July 14, 2022); Johns v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., 2022 WL 1811088 (E.D. La. June 2,
2022); Johnson v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., 2022 WL 1811090 (E.D. La. June 2, 2022); Macon v.
BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., 2022 WL 1811135 (E.D. La. June 2, 2022); Murray v. BP Expl. & Prod.

1

R. Doc. 42.
R. Doc. 48.
3
R. Doc. 43.
4
R. Doc. 47.
2

Inc., 2022 WL 1811138 (E.D. La. June 2, 2022); Street v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., 2022 WL
1811144 (E.D. La. June 2, 2022).5
Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the Orders & Reasons issued in those cases,
IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Daubert motion to exclude Cook (R. Doc. 42) is
GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ motion for summary judgment (R. Doc. 43)
is GRANTED, and Waddell’s claims against them are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 25th day of July, 2022.

________________________________
BARRY W. ASHE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

5

Waddell filed an opposed motion for extension of deadlines seeking to delay the Court’s ruling on these
motions and halt discovery until plaintiffs’ counsel concludes B3 docket-wide discovery regarding BP’s alleged failure
to conduct dermal monitoring and biomonitoring of oil-spill workers, arguing that such discovery will aid the Court
in understanding why Cook could not analyze dose-response data. R. Doc. 46. As the Court has explained in granting
the nearly identical motions in limine in other B3 cases, the point of an expert on general causation is to explain
whether the exposure to a particular chemical is capable generally of causing a certain health issue in the general
population. It is not dependent on data from the particular incident at issue. Thus, BP’s alleged failure to monitor the
oil-spill workers is irrelevant to the resolution of these motions.

2