Powell v. Richmond City Public School Board , 86 F. App'x 653 ( 2004 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-2044
THEODORE E. POWELL,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
RICHMOND CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD; HOWARD
HOPKINS,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond. Robert E. Payne, District
Judge. (CA-03-513)
Submitted: January 21, 2004 Decided: February 10, 2004
Before WILKINSON and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed as modified by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Theodore E. Powell, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Theodore E. Powell appeals the district court’s order
dismissing his complaint with prejudice. We agree with the
district court that Powell is precluded from relitigating his
wrongful termination and disparate discipline claims against the
Richmond City Public School Board and Howard Hopkins, as these
claims were previously adjudicated on the merits against the same
parties. Powell v. Richmond City School Board, No. CA-98-797 (E.D.
Va. July 21, 1999); see Grausz v. Englander, 321 F.3d 467, 472 (4th
Cir. 2003). Accordingly, we affirm this portion of the district
court’s order.
To the extent that Powell sought to name as Defendants
two individual Human Resources officers, asserting they have
prevented him from securing other employment, this claim was not
litigated in Powell’s prior federal action, and it is not clear
from the record that this claim is time barred. However, as the
claim involved a matter of a state law, the district court was not
required to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over it. We modify
the district court’s order to dismiss this claim without prejudice.
We grant Powell’s motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED
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