UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 96-2624

BRIAN MITCHELL, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus G.E. AMERICAN SPACENET, Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Alexandria. T. S. Ellis, III, District Judge. (CA-96-969)

Submitted: May 1, 1997 Decided: May 7, 1997

Before WIDENER and MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Brian Mitchell, Appellant Pro Se. Thomasenia Patricia Duncan, COVINGTON & BURLING, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellant appeals the district court's order dismissing his complaint for damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 12101-12213 (West 1995), "Privacy Act of 1974," 5 U.S.C. § 552(a) (1994), and under the common law action of defama- tion of character. The district court properly dismissed the claim under the ADA and for defamation of character without prejudice because Mitchell did not comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 by failing to provide a short and plain statement of the claim. The district court properly dismissed the claim under the Privacy Act because the Defendant is a private corporation and not an agency subject to suit under the Act. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(f) (1994). We therefore af- firm the district court order. Mitchell v. G.E. American Spacenet, No. CA-96-969 (E.D. Va. Oct. 9, 1996). We dispense with oral argu- ment because the facts and legal contentions are adequately pre- sented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED