SIGNIFICANT CASE SUMMARY
Federal Case Summary
Vakili v. MTD Prods. Inc.
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220843
Decided: November 10, 2025
The Middle District reinforces the necessary qualifications of experts to be able to opine on causation.
Background
MTD manufactured the subject snow thrower in June 1996 for distribution at Tractor Supply. The subject snow thrower collects snow at the base of the machine as it moves forward, and a separate piece tosses the snow out of the machine through a discharge chute. Plaintiff Vakili purchased the subject snow thrower from his coworker in 2008 and used it approximately 3 to 4 times per winter. Plaintiff testified that the discharge chute often became clogged and, in these instances, he would shut off the machine and clear the area with his hand. There were warning labels relating to this conduct on the subject snow thrower. In February 2021, Plaintiff did not turn off the machine before clearing the discharge chute with his hand, causing him to sustain serious and permanent injuries to his hand.
Based on these injuries, Plaintiff filed suit against MTD Products, Inc. (“MTD”) and Tractor Supply Company asserting claims sounding in negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. Plaintiff’s claim was based only on defective design, not for lack of warnings. To substantiate his claims, Plaintiff retained Jack Krafchick, a consulting engineer. Mr. Krafchick evaluated the design of the subject snow thrower using the “Safety Hierarchy” technique and faulted MTD for failing to include equipment with the machine to clean the discharge chute. Therefore, Krafchick opined that it was MTD’s failure to include a cleanout tool that caused Plaintiff’s injuries.
Holding
MTD subsequently filed a Motion to exclude Krafchick’s report and a Motion for summary judgment, arguing that based on Krafchick’s qualifications, he could not offer an opinion with respect to causation. Krafchick is a consulting engineer and could not opine that if a cleanout tool was provided, Plaintiff would have used it. The opinion of Krafchick regarding causation was the only evidence produced by Plaintiff to establish causation. Therefore, given that Plaintiff failed to adduce any evidence to sustain his burden of proof, summary judgment was granted.
Questions about this case can be directed to Gabrielle Martin at 610.332.7003 or gmartin@tthlaw.com.