This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Ps owned a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer. While driving the Mountaineer in 2006, they were involved in a car accident, and the airbags did not deploy. Ps had the vehicle repaired. They did not confirm whether the restraint control module, which monitors a crash and decides whether to deploy airbags, was reset during or after repairs after the 2006 collision. A year later, Ps were traveling in their Mountaineer in February 2007 when they hit a patch of black ice, causing the car to slide off the road and into a wall. Their Mountaineer had done a 360-degree turn, slid down a hill, and collided with several trees before coming to a rest. Upon impact, none of the car's airbags deployed, and Ps were injured. Ps had their Mountaineer repaired at the same shop that had repaired the car after the 2006 accident. In 2009, Ps sold the Mountaineer. The buyer happened to be a mechanic who reprogrammed the vehicle's black box, wiping any data that might remain from either crash. In December 2010, Ps sued D, alleging the Mountaineer's airbags were defective and enhanced the injuries they suffered as a result of the 2007 accident. D removed the case to federal court. During discovery, Ps never served any expert reports, despite obtaining an extension of the expert-disclosure deadline. D moved for summary judgment in that Ps could not prove a prima facie case of design or manufacturing defect without expert testimony, nor could they prove their injuries were more severe than they would have been without the alleged defect. Ps claimed that they did not need an expert. They asserted that their circumstantial evidence, the Mountaineer's owner's manual and Mr. Piltch's (P) testimony, created genuine issues of fact as to the defect and proximate cause. Ps also argued that the jury could infer a defect under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. The court granted D’s motion, holding that Ps’ circumstantial evidence was just speculation, and res ipsa loquitur could not apply as the circumstantial evidence was not enough to negate all possible causes other than defect for the air bags' failure to inflate. Ps appealed.

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