A federal judge from the Northern District of Indiana has granted summary judgment to Leatt Corporation, a company which develops and markets protective equipment and ancillary products for the sports industry, finding that the company was not responsible for a spinal injury that a Motocross participant suffered during a competition.
Plaintiff Brock Lyons suffered a permanent injury to his thoracic spine after losing control of his 450cc dirt bike and crashing during a motocross practice session in April 2014. Lyons sued Leatt, alleging that his Leatt-Brace®, a neck protection device he had worn for seven years, either caused the injury to his lower spine or failed to protect him from that injury.
However, the court granted summary judgment after deciding that the proposed opinion testimony of two key witnesses was scientifically unreliable and inadmissible as evidence.
The brace is designed to help reduce catastrophic neck injuries in extreme sports by reducing extreme ranges of neck motion and creating “an Alternative Load Path™ for forces inflicted on unrestrained motorcycle, ATV, mountain bike, and snowmobile riders,” according to the company.
