Filed: May 12, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2121 SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE, Plaintiffs - Appellants, and JAMES SPEARMAN, JR.; FLOYD CARSON, JR., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, Defendant - Appellee. No. 15-2124 JAMES SPEARMAN, JR., Plaintiff - Appellant, and SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE; FLOYD CARSON, JR., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, Defendant - Appellee. Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryl
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-2121 SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE, Plaintiffs - Appellants, and JAMES SPEARMAN, JR.; FLOYD CARSON, JR., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, Defendant - Appellee. No. 15-2124 JAMES SPEARMAN, JR., Plaintiff - Appellant, and SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE; FLOYD CARSON, JR., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, Defendant - Appellee. Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryla..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-2121
SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
and
JAMES SPEARMAN, JR.; FLOYD CARSON, JR.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND,
Defendant - Appellee.
No. 15-2124
JAMES SPEARMAN, JR.,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
and
SHELLEY C. WHITE, JR.; CARL BOUIE; FLOYD CARSON, JR.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
CITY OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District
of Maryland, at Baltimore. J. Frederick Motz, Senior District
Judge. (1:13-cv-01330-JFM)
Submitted: April 29, 2016 Decided: May 12, 2016
Before SHEDD and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Neil E. Duke, OBER, KALER, GRIMES & SHRIVER, Baltimore,
Maryland, for Appellants White and Bouie. James Spearman, Jr.,
Appellant Pro Se. Gary M. Elson, Assistant City Attorney,
Annapolis, Maryland, Devin John Doolan, Jr., SAUL EWING, LLP,
Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
In these consolidated appeals, Plaintiffs Shelley C. White,
Jr., Carl Bouie, and James Spearman, Jr., * challenge the district
court’s order granting the City of Annapolis, Maryland (“the
City”), summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ discrimination,
harassment and retaliation claims, brought pursuant to Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e
to 2000e-17 (2012). Finding no reversible error, we affirm the
district court’s order.
The district court granted the City summary judgment on
White’s and Bouie’s claims because either they failed to exhaust
their claims, or they failed to establish all of the elements
necessary to make out prima facie cases for their claims. In
Appeal No. 15-2121, White and Bouie only raise general
challenges to the district court’s determinative holdings.
These general challenges are insufficient to bring before this
court the correctness of the district court’s holdings. See,
e.g., Eriline Co. S.A. v. Johnson,
440 F.3d 648, 653 n.7 (4th
Cir. 2006) (holding that a single sentence in an opening brief
asserting a district court’s alleged error “is insufficient to
raise on appeal any merits-based challenge to the district
* A fourth Plaintiff, Floyd Carson, Jr., has not appealed
the dismissal of his claims.
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court’s ruling”). White’s and Bouie’s failure to challenge the
district court’s dispositive holdings on appeal amounts to a
waiver of appellate review over the district court’s holdings.
See United States v. Al-Hamdi,
356 F.3d 564, 571 n.8 (4th Cir.
2004) (“It is a well settled rule that contentions not raised in
the argument section of the opening brief are abandoned.”);
Canady v. Crestar Mortg. Corp.,
109 F.3d 969, 973-74 (4th Cir.
1997) (holding that issues not briefed are waived).
In Appeal No. 15-2124, Spearman proceeds pro se. We thus
afford his informal brief a liberal construction. See Gordon v.
Leeke,
574 F.2d 1147, 1151 (4th Cir. 1978) (holding that a pro
se litigant’s pleadings should be construed liberally to avoid
inequity). Although we have considered Spearman’s arguments and
have reviewed the district court record, we discern no
reversible error in the district court’s decision to grant the
City summary judgment on Spearman’s claims.
Based on the foregoing, we affirm the district court’s
order granting the City summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ claims.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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