United States Sixth Circuit

In plaintiff's suit against a driver of a tractor-trailer and the driver's employer arising from a traffic accident, summary judgment in favor of the driver's employer on a negligent-supervision-and-retention claim and jury's finding in favor of the driver on the underlying negligence claim is affirmed where: 1) although the district court abused its discretion in preventing plaintiff from pursuing a certain line of questioning of defendant's expert witness, the error was harmless; 2) district court's decision that a police report was trustworthy was reasonable or, at the very least, arguable, and thus not an abuse of discretion; and 3) the issue of whether the district court erred in addressing the negligent-supervision-and-retention claim is moot as there is no reversible error in the conduct of the trial and because the jury found that defendant-driver was not negligent.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/30/2009
• Published 11/30/2009

Judges

• Before:  O'CONNOR, Associate Justice;   GILMAN and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Donald L. Cox, Lynch, Cox, Gilman & Mahan, P.S.C., Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellants.  Will H. Fulton, Dinsmore & Shohl, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Donald L. Cox, John D. Cox, Lynch, Cox, Gilman & Mahan, P.S.C., Louisville, Kentucky, A. Andrew Draut, Weber & Rose, P.S.C., Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellants.  Will H. Fulton, Elizabeth Ullmer Mendel, D. Craig York, Emily K. Fritts, Dinsmore & Shohl, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees.