Rebuttal of Overcharge Theory in ATV Product Liability Class Action

Brattle assisted all-terrain vehicle (ATV) manufacturer Polaris in obtaining a victory at the class certification stage of a product liability case where the plaintiffs alleged that Polaris failed to disclose information on alleged exhaust heat issues in thousands of its ATVs, causing consumers to overpay for those models. A Brattle Principal provided expert testimony explaining that both the survey-based demand analysis and the equilibrium model that the plaintiff used to determine the amount of the alleged overcharge were unreliable. The district court judge denied certification of the class, ruling that the plaintiffs’ expert-driven overcharge theory was insufficient to meet class certification requirements. On appeal, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling.