Terry v. Electronic Data
Case Date: 02/12/1997
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 96-2036
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION ___________________ UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ____________________ No. 96-2036 ALVIN TERRY, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION, Defendant, Appellee. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge] ___________________ ____________________ Before Boudin, Circuit Judge, _____________ Bownes, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________ and Lynch, Circuit Judge. _____________ ____________________ William F. Green with whom Robert A. Rossi was on brief for _________________ ________________ appellant. Charles A. Linn with whom Michael H. Olvera, Electronic Data ________________ __________________ Systems Corporation, Office of the General Counsel, Robert P. Joy and _____________ Morgan, Brown & Joy were on brief for appellee. ______ ___________ ____________________ April 24, 1997 ____________________ BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. This is a straightforward ______________ employment discrimination case brought by appellant Alvin Terry under both the federal and state anti-discrimination statutes. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1); Mass. Gen. L. ch. 151B, 4(1). Terry claims that he was not hired as a permanent computer operator at Electronic Data Systems because of his race. Terry was a temporary employee who was offered a permanent position subject to a background check; but the offer was withdrawn after that check. The district court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment, finding that Terry had made out a prima _____ facie case but that the presumption of discrimination had _____ been negated because the employer provided an adequate non- discriminatory reason for not hiring Terry--namely, that the background check revealed that Terry had a credit problem relating to an unpaid student loan and Terry showed no concern when asked about the matter. Since Terry did not put forward any substantial evidence of discrimination beyond the prima facie case and produced no evidence that the employer's ___________ stated reason was pretextual, this disposed of the case under both the federal and state doctrines. We need not consider whether or not a prima facie case _____ _____ was made out by Terry, since it is crystal clear that apart from a prima facie case, no substantial evidence of _____ _____ discrimination was presented, nor any basis for believing -2- -2- that the non-discriminatory explanation of the employer was a pretext. Terry's efforts on appeal to manufacture a factual conflict out of some pleading discrepancies and his speculative appraisals of the employer's attitude toward him are too thin to warrant any extended discussion. Affirmed. ________ -3- -3- |