SHERMAN, Texas (LN) — U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant granted in part and denied in part Eternity Technologies’ motion to strike expert designations in a dispute over unpaid industrial batteries, allowing one corporate president to testify while excluding the company’s director of operations.
The case centers on a commercial debt of $0.77 million that Eternity Technologies sought to collect from Veterans Serving America, LLC, after the defendant refused to pay for lead-acid batteries it claimed were defective. Veterans Serving America counterclaimed for at least $2.01 million in damages.
Mazzant’s May 12 ruling addressed challenges to two non-retained experts: acting president Tony Amato and Director of Operations Todd Muratori. The judge permitted Amato to testify but struck Muratori’s designation entirely, citing insufficient factual grounding and a lack of personal knowledge regarding the specific batteries involved in the litigation.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(C), non-retained experts must provide a summary of their opinions, though the disclosure requirements are less stringent than those for retained experts. Mazzant found Amato’s disclosure sufficient to prevent prejudice and surprise, noting it notified Eternity of his intent to rely on Battery Council International Standards and specific maintenance practices.
Amato, who has 36 years battery industry, was allowed to opine on industry standards, capacity test results, and battery maintenance. Eternity argued his sales and management background was insufficient to qualify him as an expert on technical maintenance practices like equalization charging and acid spill management.
Mazzant rejected that argument, reasoning that Amato’s role as a "lead decision maker" who personally evaluated battery performance and advised customers provided the necessary factual context to qualify him under Rule 702. The judge noted that differences in expertise bear on the weight of testimony, not its admissibility.
The ruling took a different path for Muratori, who joined Veterans Serving America in May 2025. The batteries at issue were purchased and invoiced between August 2024 and January 2025, meaning Muratori was not employed when the transactions occurred or when the batteries were in use.
Mazzant found Muratori lacked firsthand knowledge of how the batteries were stored, maintained, or utilized. The judge noted that Muratori’s opinion relied on facts described to him by third parties rather than personal observation, effectively making him a retained expert who failed to comply with stricter disclosure rules.
Additionally, the court found Muratori’s disclosure failed to meet Daubert standards because it did not discuss the principles or methods used to arrive at his opinions. Mazzant stated he was unable to examine the sufficiency of facts or data because they were entirely absent from the disclosure.
The judge granted Veterans Serving America 14 days to refile or supplement the expert disclosures for both Amato and Muratori. Eternity’s deadline to object to any new or supplemented designations will also be extended by 14 days following the refiling.
The case is set for a pretrial conference on Aug. 6, 2026.