UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 99-2032

JAMES W. TAYLOR; LARRY W. SHOCKLEY; DANIEL L.

THOMSON; SAMUEL HOMER; GERALD W. LONG, Plaintiffs - Appellants, versus

STATE OF MARYLAND; DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICE DIVISION OF CORREC- TION POPLAR HILL PRE-RELEASE UNIT; SHIRLEY WASHINGTON-WORTHY, Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Williams M. Nickerson, District Judge. (CA-98-4120-WMN)

Submitted: January 31, 2000 Decided: February 22, 2000

Before NIEMEYER, WILLIAMS, and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Paul V. Bennett, Annapolis, Maryland, for Appellants. J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General of Maryland, Scott S. Oakley, Assis- tant Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellants Taylor, Shockley, Thomson, Homer and Long appeal the district court’s order dismissing their complaint alleging employment discrimination and related state law claims. We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm on the reasoning of the district court. See Taylor v. State of Maryland, No. CA-98-4120- WMN (D. Md. July 1, 1999).* We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the ma- terials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

* Although the order from which Appellants appeal was filed on June 30, 1999, it was entered on the district court’s docket sheet on July 1, 1999. July 1, 1999, is therefore the effective date of the district court’s decision. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58 and 79(a); see also Wilson v. Murray, 806 F.2d 1232, 1234-35 (4th Cir. 1986).