Tardif v. City of New York

Mary Tardif (plaintiff) sued the City of New York (city) (defendant) and several police officers (defendants) for injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which she allegedly sustained at the hands of New York police during the 2012 Occupy Wall Street protests. Tardif retained Dr. Robert Goldman as an expert. Although Goldman was a licensed psychologist and held an advanced psychology degree, Tardif adduced no evidence that Goldman had specific expertise in PTSD. Goldman reviewed some of Tardif’s medical records, interviewed Tardif, and administered the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III test (MCMI-III) to test the level of Tardif’s personality functioning. Goldman concluded that Tardif had PTSD from prior trauma but opined that the city and the officers’ 2012 conduct exacerbated the PTSD and was the cause of Tardif’s current condition. Goldman did not conduct a differential diagnosis to rule out other possible causes of Tardif’s PTSD. Portions of Goldman’s report simply recounted Tardif’s version of her personal history. The city and the officers retained Dr. Steven Fayer as a psychiatric expert. Like Goldman, Fayer reviewed medical records, examined Tardif, and administered the MCMI-III test. Fayer found that Tardif exhibited no PTSD symptoms. Fayer did not conduct a differential diagnosis. Each side moved to exclude the other side’s expert’s testimony.