Orr v. City of Albuquerque

531 F.3d 1210 (2008)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Orr v. City of Albuquerque

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
531 F.3d 1210 (2008)

Facts

Cynthia Orr and Patricia Paiz (plaintiffs) were employed as police officers for the City of Albuquerque (the city) (defendant). During Orr’s and Paiz’s maternity leaves, the city’s personnel director, Mary Beth Vigil, required Orr and Paiz to use their sick time instead of compensatory time for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. Orr and Paiz sued the city, alleging that Vigil’s policy applied only to women taking maternity leave, therefore constituting discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The city argued that Vigil’s conduct was not discriminatory, but rather a uniform policy. In the alternative, the city contended that any discriminatory effect from Vigil’s conduct was a mere mistake. To refute this claim, Orr and Paiz attempted to introduce an affidavit from Detective Dow. The affidavit claimed that three years prior to the case, Vigil engaged in the same conduct toward eight other pregnant police officers. As a result, the officers brought the unfair treatment to the attention of the city’s police department, which led to an investigation into Vigil’s behavior and an acknowledgment that her conduct seemed to disparately affect pregnant women. The trial-court judge ruled that the affidavit was inadmissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 408 because the department’s review and acknowledgment constituted compromise negotiations (i.e., settlement negotiations) in a related case. Without the evidence from Dow’s affidavit, the trial court granted summary judgment for the city. Orr and Paiz appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Gorsuch, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership