Mayhue v. St. Francis Hospital of Wichita, Inc.

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

In this civil rights action, we examine whether the district court’s decision to grant the defendant’s motion for a new trial because of the jury’s unauthorized use of dictionary definitions during its deliberations constitutes reversible error. We cannot find abuse of discretion on the record before us, and accordingly we affirm the decision of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1982, Bertha Mayhue, a black woman, brought a race discrimination action in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas against her employer, St. Francis Hospital of Wichita, Inc.…