Boeing is seeking to block LOT Polish Airlines from introducing an $8.4 million revised damages report, arguing that the airline submitted it at the last minute with insufficient time for the company to review or respond, less than two weeks before trial. In an emergency motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, The Boeing Co. described the report as an “eleventh-hour” attempt to expand LOT’s damages claims, potentially prejudicing Boeing’s case.
According to Boeing, most of the added damages relate to prejudgment interest, an issue that LOT had previously said it would not present to the jury. Boeing contended that including the interest calculations now is untimely and irrelevant, creating the risk of surprise and confusion for the jury. “Whatever LOT’s purpose in undertaking this exercise, the new report comes far too late under even the most generous reading of LOT’s deadline to serve supplemental expert opinions,” the company wrote.
The aircraft manufacturer also criticized LOT for failing to explain why the expert could not have included these revisions months earlier, describing the move as “precisely the type of ambush just before trial” that courts typically reject. Boeing emphasized that allowing LOT to rely on the report could force the defense to scramble to address new calculations, disrupting trial preparation and potentially affecting the fairness of proceedings.
The dispute stems from LOT’s October 2021 lawsuit, in which the Polish airline accused Boeing of fraud related to the 737 Max aircraft. LOT claimed Boeing misrepresented the jets’ safety, fuel efficiency and performance to convince the airline to lease the planes. Following the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators grounded the 737 Max fleet worldwide for nearly two years, further exacerbating LOT’s losses. The airline estimates the grounding and Boeing’s alleged misrepresentations caused roughly $250 million in damages, including lost revenue and operational costs.
The trial, set to begin Feb. 17 in Seattle, has already seen other pretrial disputes. In late January, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez granted Boeing’s request to quash a subpoena seeking deposition materials from related shareholder litigation in Illinois federal court, ruling that LOT had not demonstrated good cause for the additional discovery.
Boeing is represented by Michael S. Paisner, Harry H. Schneider Jr. and Matthew R. Koerner of Perkins Coie LLP, along with Ulrike B. Connelly and Christopher M. Ledford of McGuireWoods LLP. LOT is represented by Anthony U. Battista, Diana Gurfel Shapiro, Mary Dow and Mirin E. Park of Condon & Forsyth LLP.
The case, Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA v. The Boeing Co., case number 2:21-cv-01449, will test whether courts allow last-minute expert revisions in high-profile, complex product liability and fraud litigation, and the ruling could influence how future aviation and corporate disputes are litigated. The proceedings are expected to scrutinize Boeing’s representations about the 737 Max and the airline’s claimed financial losses.
