LaCasse v. Owen

When opposing a motion for summary judgment, an attorney may submit a declaration that an unidentified expert will testify to certain conclusions at a trial that raise a genuine issue of material fact.

Plaintiff appealed the trial court's order granting his previous employer summary on his retaliatory discharge claim. Plaintiff assigned error to the trial court's grant of summary judgment, striking of an affidavit, and finding Plaintiff’s ORCP 47 E declaration inadmissible. Plaintiff helped a worker involved in a sexual harassment complaint and then was fired. The Court found the ORCP 47 E declaration admissible because when coupled with other evidence, it created a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Plaintiff was fired because of his involvment in the sexual harassment claim. A reasonable jury could have found that Plaintiff was fired becasue he helped with the sexual harassment claim based on the declaration, false work evaluations, and Plaintiff's statements that he was doing well at work. Reversed and remanded.