Morrow v. Farrell

50 F. App'x 179

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: November 18, 2002
• Docket: 02-1342
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Craig L. Morrow appeals from the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the Defendants on his employment discrimination action and related claims. Morrow claims that the district court abused its discretion in denying his request for additional discovery, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(f), prior to its entry of summary judgment. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

In declining to order a continuance under Rule 56(f), the district court noted that Morrow had failed to identify any specific facts that he was yet to discover. Rather, the court concluded that Morrow sought a “fishing expedition” in that he made only generalized statements about disparate treatment by the Prince George’s County Police Department’s disciplinary system without specifying what discovery might be needed or pointing to specific facts that might merit further discovery. Moreover, Morrow had several months from the time he filed his complaint until the summary judgment motion was filed to conduct discovery, yet failed to do so. We find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Rule 56(f) motion. See Nguyen v. CNA Corp., 44 F.3d 234, 242 (4th Cir.1995).

Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on the reasoning of the district court. See Morrow v. Farrell, No. CA-01-1221-CA (D.Md. Feb. 25, 2002). 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.