Belford
Belford v. Farmers Insurance Group of Companies
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Farmers Insurance Exchange (“Farmers”) appeals the jury verdict in favor of its claims representatives, Jay Belford and John Wyper. Farmers contends that the district court erred by (1) refusing to allow Farmers’ expert to testify, and (2) denying Farmers’ motion for mistrial alleging juror bias and misconduct. Another claims representative, Ed Dunlap, cross-appeals the district court’s order and judgment that he had not opted into the entire lawsuit, thus denying him relief on the state law claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm the district court’s decisions excluding the expert testimony and denying the motion for mistrial, but reverse the district court’s dismissal of Dunlap, and remand for arbitration of Dunlap’s damages and entry of judgment in his favor.
DISCUSSION
I FARMERS’ CLAIMS
A. Standard of Review
We review for an abuse of discretion the district court’s decision to admit or exclude expert testimony. United States v. Alatorre, 222 F.3d 1098, 1100 (9th Cir.2000). We review for an abuse of discretion the district court’s'denial of a mistrial or denial of a new trial based on alleged juror misconduct or bias. Sea Hawk…