Plaintiff alleged the Defendant unlawfully terminated him and discriminated against him on the basis of his religion. Following the federal District Court's denying Plaintiff's motion to compel discovery and granting the Defendant's motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff appealed both of the District Court's rulings.
With respect to Plaintiff's motion to compel discovery alleging the federal District Court had abused its discretion, the Circuit Court of Appeals noted that Plaintiff's counsel failed to comply with the District Court’s scheduling orders and discovery deadlines and offered no compelling justifications for her admitted failure to do so.
Accordingly, said the Circuit Court of Appeals, the District Court acted well within its discretion when it denied Plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery and affirmed the District Court’s denial of that motion.
Turning to Plaintiff's appeal with respect to the District Court's granting the Defendant's motion for summary judgment, the Circuit Court of Appeals explained that it reviewed the grant of summary judgment to Defendant de novo, drawing all inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, citing El Sayed v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 627 F.3d 931.
Based on its de novo review of BOCES motion, the Circuit Court concluded that the District Court "properly granted summary judgment to Defendants" with respect to all of Plaintiff's claims. The Circuit Court opined that Plaintiff failed to point to “sufficient evidence" that would allow “a jury to return a verdict” for Plaintiff on any of Plaintiff's claims and affirmed the District Court’s granting summary judgment to Defendant.
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