United States Fourth Circuit

Dismissal of Title VII complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff did not complain of an actual hostile work environment; 2) plaintiff could not reasonably have believed he was complaining of a hostile work environment; and 3) remaining counts of the complaint are grounded essentially on the same core allegations that support plaintiff's Title VII claim or contain no supporting allegations.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/14/2006
• Decided 08/14/2006
• Published 08/14/2006

Judges

• Before WIDENER, NIEMEYER, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Stephen Zak Chertkof, Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellant.  Paul D. Ramshaw, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Appellate Services, Washington, D.C., for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Supporting Appellant.  William C. Sammons, Tydings & Rosenberg, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Douglas B. Huron, Tammany M. Kramer, Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellant.  Marc R. Jacobs, Seyfarth Shaw, L.L.P., Chicago, Illinois, for Appellee Alternative Resources Corporation;  J. Hardin Marion, Melvina C. Ford, Tydings & Rosenberg, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee International Business Machines Corporation.  R. Scott Oswald, Employment Law Group, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C., for The Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association and Public Justice Center, Amici Supporting Appellant.  Eric S. Dreiband, General, Vincent J. Blackwood, Acting Associate General, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D.C., for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus Supporting Appellant.