Wednesday, July 30, 2003

7th Circuit Says Regression Variables Go to Weight, Not Admissibility

In a published opinion issued yesterday, the Seventh Circuit upheld the admissibility of a regression analysis of university salaries, offered by plaintiff in a discrimination case. The panel (Bauer, Ripple, and Evans, JJ.) cited Justice Brennan's concurrence in Bazemore v. Friday, 478 U.S. 385 (1986), for the proposition that the handling of variables in regression analyses normally goes to weight, not admissibility. But the plaintiff's evidentiary victory was pyrrhic, because the same panel held the regression insufficient to establish a prima facie case.

A summary of the court's opinion in Cullen v. Indiana Univ. Board of Trustees, No. 02-3043 (7th Cir. July 29, 2003), and a link to the opinion, can be found here.

posted by pn at 11:14 AM  

Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.