[NOT FOR PUBLICATION--NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 97-2304

MICHAEL BRIGGS,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

OSRAM SYLVANIA, INC., ET AL.,

Defendants, Appellees.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

[Hon. Morton A. Brody, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, Selya and Boudin, Circuit Judges.

Michael Briggs on brief pro se. Barry A. Bachrach and Bowditch & Dewey, LLP on brief for appellees.

May 7, 1998

Per Curiam. We have carefully reviewed the record and briefs on appeal and affirm the judgment below. Upon summary judgment, the evidence was unequivocal that the appellant was an employee of the appellee with wages subject to mandatory withholding. 26 U.S.C. 3402(a)(1) and 3102(a). An employer cannot be liable to its employee for complying with its legal duty to withhold federal taxes. Chandler v. Perini Power Constructors, Inc.,

(D.H. 1981)(stating also that the constitutionality of federal tax withholding statutes is so well established as to render nugatory any challenge thereto); Bright v. Bechtel Petroleum, Inc.

(9th Cir. 1986). The arguments that appellant raises for the first time on appeal are not properly before us. Affirmed. Loc.R. 27.1.