Williams v. Bell Laboratories

USCA1 Opinion









September 27, 1994
[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT


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No. 94-1058

RICHARD F. WILLIAMS,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

BELL LABORATORIES, A/K/A AT & T TECHNOLOGIES, INC.,

Defendant, Appellee.


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APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE


[Hon. Steven J. McAuliffe, U.S. District Judge]
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Before

Selya, Cyr and Stahl,
Circuit Judges.
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Richard F. Williams on brief pro se.
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David J. Kerman, David T. Lyons and Ropes & Gray on brief for
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appellee.


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Per Curiam. Plaintiff brought a pro se civil
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action alleging wrongful termination of employment in

violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. 621-634 (1988). After some discovery,

defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that (1)

plaintiff had not been the defendant's "employee" within the

meaning of the law, but rendered services through an

independent contractor, and (2) defendant's decision to

terminate plaintiff's services was based on legitimate, non-

discriminatory reasons. The district court granted summary

judgment on the ground that even if plaintiff could establish

a prima facie case of age discrimination, he had failed to

offer minimally sufficient proof that the defendant's

articulated non-discriminatory reason was a pretext, and that

the real reason for terminating plaintiff's services was age

discrimination. The court thus did not reach the

definitional issue.

Reviewing the dismissal de novo, we agree with the
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district court's analysis and affirm substantially for the

reasons set forth in Judge McAuliffe's thorough order. See
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Woods v. Friction Materials, Inc., 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS
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19755, at *9-14 (1st Cir. July 29, 1994); LeBlanc v. Great
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Am. Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 843 (1st Cir. 1993), cert. denied,
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114 S. Ct. 1398 (1994). We do not consider the new factual





















contentions raised for the first time in plaintiff's brief on

appeal.

Affirmed.
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