Chhim v. The City of Houston

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS For the Fifth Circuit No. 97-20813 Summary Calendar JOSEPH CHHIM, Plaintiff-Appellant, VERSUS THE CITY OF HOUSTON; GERARD J. TOLLETT; ROBYN WILLIAMS; SKIP WHITE; DAVID OSTERHOUT, Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (CA-H-95-4970) January 11, 1999 Before DAVIS, DUHÉ, and PARKER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:1 Appellant Chhim appeals the adverse decision in his employment discrimination suit claiming discrimination on the basis of race, national origin and retaliation. We affirm. Appellant was hired by the City in its Civic Center Department in may of 1994, and was terminated in July, 1995. The stated reason for termination was poor work performance. The decision was 1 Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. affirmed by the Civil Service Commission for Municipal Employees and this suit followed. Appellant first claimed under Title VII and Texas law, that his firing was in retaliation for his having filed prior EEOC claims and a worker’s compensation claim. Following Appellant’s case in chief, Appellee successfully moved for directed verdict on the basis that there was no evidence of a causal link between the firing and the EEOC and worker’s compensation claims. Our review of the law and the record shows no error in that determination. In fact, the record affirmatively shows that the person who was responsible for the firing had no knowledge of the prior claims. Appellant’s claim of race and national origin discrimination went to the jury which returned a verdict in favor of Appellee. The record fully supports that verdict. AFFIRMED. 2