L'Heureux v. Whitman ( 1997 )

USCA1 Opinion

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]



                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT



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        No. 97-1115





                                   GERTRUDE GOROD,



                                Plaintiff, Appellant,



                                          v.



                    DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, ET AL.,



                                Defendants, Appellees.



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                    APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS



                   [Hon. Robert B. Collings, U.S. Magistrate Judge]
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                                 ____________________



                                        Before



                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
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                           Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
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            Gertrude Gorod on brief pro se.
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            Scott Harshbarger,  Attorney General, Richard  H. Spicer  and Lucy
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        A. Wall, Assistant Attorneys General, on brief for appellees.
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                                   OCTOBER 9, 1997

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                 Per Curiam.   Pro se plaintiff Gertrude  Gorod commenced
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            this action against the Department of Employment and Training



            (DET) and several of its employees seeking relief under Title



            VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42  U.S.C.   2000e, and the



            Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C.    621



            et seq.1   The  district court  dismissed plaintiff's  claims
1



            against  the DET  as a  sanction for  failing to  comply with



            numerous discovery  orders.   Plaintiff's claims  against the



            other  defendants had been previously dismissed on the ground



            that     employees  cannot  be  liable  in  their  individual



            capacities under Title VII or the ADEA.



                 Having thoroughly reviewed  the record and  the parties'



            briefs on appeal, we conclude that the district court did not



            abuse its discretion in dismissing plaintiff's claims against



            the DET.  See Valentine v. Museum  of Modern Art, 29 F.3d 47,
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            48 (2d  Cir. 1994).  We  need not decide whether  the court's



            ruling dismissing the individual defendants was  correct, for



            it  is clear  that had  this ruling  not been  entered, these



            claims would  have  been  dismissed  along  with  plaintiff's



            claims against the  DET.  Plaintiff's persistent  refusals to



            comply with  the district  court's discovery  orders provides



            independent  justification for  the dismissal  of her  claims



            against the  individual defendants.   Plaintiff's  contention






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               1The  individual  defendants  are  Nils  Nordberg,  Doreen
1

            Gately, Anna McKeon and John Marra.



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            that the  district  court erred  in  denying her  motions  to



            sanction defense counsel is wholly meritless.



                 Accordingly,  the  judgment  of  the  district court  is



            summarily affirmed.  See Local Rule 27.1.
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