Appeals court probes expert dispute over lost-profits calculations in Sunrise Home Health case

The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Sunrise Home Health and Hospice v. Nye over whether the trial court correctly calculated lost-profits damages after a bench trial.

Taylor Webb, counsel for appellant Sunrise Home Health and Hospice, told the three-judge panel -- Judge Oliver (presiding), Judge Orme and Judge Mortensen -- that the damages award should rest on a specific set of patients and on the actual post-breach survival and service records for those patients rather than on generalized industry assumptions. "This is about a specific set of patients," Webb said, arguing that plaintiff expert Rasmussen used the trial record as a starting point and that defendant expert Curtis merely applied reductions to Rasmussen's numbers rather than using different base data.

The dispute centers on three categories of reductions Curtis applied, including a 180-day horizon Curtis described in his report. Webb told the court that the 180-day figure was not supported by the record for these patients and that Curtis' reliance on an assertion attributed to Ms. Nye was insufficient where the trial evidence showed the patients were long-term home-health recipients. Webb emphasized that several trial witnesses, including Sunrise owner Matt Baker and testimony attributed to Nye, described the patients as chronic, long-term care recipients rather than hospice patients.

Defense counsel disputed the notion that Curtis's work should have been excluded. Patrick Burd (appearing for the Ohana and attorney defendants) and Bridal Frazier (appearing…