Cooper v. Carl A. Nelson & Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
211 F.3d 1008 (2000)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Robert Cooper (plaintiff) was working for a subcontractor of Carl A. Nelson & Company (Nelson) (defendant) when he slipped and fell. Cooper sued Nelson for negligence, alleging that the fall led to the chronic-pain syndrome he claimed to have experienced beginning after the fall. At trial, Cooper sought to use Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8) (Rule 803(8)) to introduce a report issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in which the SSA found that Cooper’s chronic-pain syndrome enabled him to receive full disability benefits. Cooper sought to admit this report to show the extent of the damages to which he believed he was entitled. The district court excluded the report, finding that it was irrelevant and that its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 (Rule 403). The jury returned a verdict for Nelson. Cooper appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ripple, J.)
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