Terrill v. Chao, Sec

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT DON CURTIS TERRILL,  Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ELAINE L. CHAO, SECRETARY OF  No. 01-1877 LABOR, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Defendant-Appellee.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Claude M. Hilton, Chief District Judge. (CA-00-1488-A) Submitted: February 25, 2002 Decided: March 11, 2002 Before WILLIAMS and KING, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL Kirk D. Lyons, SOUTHERN LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER, INC., Black Mountain, North Carolina, for Appellant. Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Steven E. Gordon, Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. 2 TERRILL v. CHAO Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). OPINION PER CURIAM: Don Curtis Terrill appeals the district court’s order granting sum- mary judgment to the Secretary of Labor on his national origin dis- crimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We affirm. This court reviews de novo a district court’s order granting sum- mary judgment and construes the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Scheduled Airlines Traffic Offices, Inc. v. Objective, Inc., 180 F.3d 583, 590-91 (4th Cir. 1999). Summary judg- ment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Once the moving party discharges its burden by show- ing there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325 (1986), the nonmov- ing party must come forward with specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986). Summary judgment will be granted unless a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party on the evidence presented. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986). Terrill asserts that participation in his employer’s "Diversity Day" as a cultural exhibitor was a benefit of his employment that he was denied due to his national origin as a "Confederate-American." We agree with the district court that Terrill failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination based on national origin. In order to establish a prima facie case of employment discrimina- tion, Terrill must show that: (1) he is a member of a protected class; (2) he suffered an adverse employment action; (3) at the time of the adverse action he was performing to his employer’s expectations; and TERRILL v. CHAO 3 (4) other similarly situated employees who are not members of the protected class did not suffer the same adverse action. Brinkley v. Harbour Recreation Club, 180 F.3d 598, 607 (4th Cir. 1999). Terrill fails to establish that he is either a member of a protected class or that he suffered an adverse employment action. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order based on its rea- soning as stated from the bench at its summary judgment hearing. We dispense with oral argument, because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argu- ment would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED