Judge Allows Expert on Pop-Tarts To Testify in Flaming Pastry Lawsuit
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ALBANY, N.Y. – A federal judge agreed to let an engineer testify in the case of an allegedly flaming toaster snack, concluding that Michael Wald has studied frosted Pop-Tarts and the toaster company’s lawyers will have the opportunity to attack his expert testimony in court to determine if it’s shaky.
Hamilton Beach wanted Mr. Wald kept out of the case, arguing that his pastry testing didn’t measure up to the usual scientific methods, resulting in a conclusion to match Mr. Wald’s defective-toaster theory.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn disagreed in a decision Wednesday, citing the federal rules on scientific or technical evidence and Supreme Court case law.
“In this case, the testing that was performed by Wald was so specific to this situation that it is not reasonable to require that it have been subject to peer review, have a known or potential rate of error, or have general acceptance within the scientific community,” Judge Kahn wrote. “Wald’s opinions are, however, capable of being tested.”
According to Judge Kahn, the case began with the June 1, 1998, fire that damaged the Albany home of Clark Seeley, who left the house with Pop-Tarts still heating in the toaster. Seeley and Jannine Walton got $145,000 from Liberty Mutual in an insurance claim, but estimated their damages at $100,000 higher and sued Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex Inc.
They retained Mr.Wald, an electrical engineering consultant on equipment malfunctions. According to his report, he will testify that the switch that shuts off that toaster can malfunction when frosting drips on it.
Mr. Wald said he toasted Pop-Tarts and other pastries 15 to 20 times in tests and saw frosting collect on toaster components. He also put melted sugar frosting and crystals directly on the switch’s unprotected moving rod 12 times and said he caused fires three times.
Hamilton Beach argued the engineer did not see the amount of actual sugar frosting in Seeley’s toaster and never talked to the couple about how often they cleaned it.
Judge Kahn noted that Mr. Wald did examine that toaster, but only after it had caught fire and the frosting was probably destroyed. Mr. Wald maintained the couple couldn’t have cleaned the switch’s rod.
