Bauer v. Curators of the Univ. of MO, No. 11-2758 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, an advanced practical nurse at the University, sued the Board of Curators, alleging a violation of the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. 206(d), claiming that she was paid less than a male who performed substantially equal work under similar work conditions. The district court, over plaintiff's objection, gave the business-judgment instruction and the jury returned a verdict for the Curators. Plaintiff appealed. The court concluded that the business-judgment instruction limited the jury from ruling for plaintiff solely for irrelevant reasons that were not in the proceeding three instructions. Taken as a whole, the instructions correctly stated the law, requiring a verdict for the plaintiff under some circumstances or for the defendant under others. Accordingly, there was no error and the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Civil case - Equal Pay Act. "Business-Judgment Instruction" should not be given in an Equal Pay case, and the district court erred in including this language; however, taken as a whole, the instructions fairly and adequately represented the evidence and the applicable law and the district court's judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed.
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