Civil Procedure — jury instructions

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Procedure — jury instructions

Even though the district court did not comply with FRCP 51(b) before giving the jury instructions, the error was harmless.

“We affirm. The district court properly granted summary judgment on most claims. In the trial of the two remaining claims, we see no abuse of discretion in the many evidentiary rulings that Johnson challenges. Johnson has raised several procedural and substantive objections to the final jury instructions. The district court failed to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 51(b), which requires the court to decide the content of final jury instructions and give the parties an opportunity to object before the instructions and final arguments are delivered. That procedural error was ultimately harmless, though. We find no substantive error in the instructions actually given, and Johnson has not shown that she was otherwise prejudiced by the procedural error. We therefore affirm the judgment for defendants.”

Affirmed.

12-1699 Johnson v. General Board of Pension & Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Norgle, J., Hamilton, J.