A female employee who was twice denied a promotion in favor of younger men could bring a Title VII sex discrimination claim against her employer, the U.S. Postal Service, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found.
Plaintiff Elizabeth Warner, who was 58 at the time of the events in question and had been with the USPS since 1998, applied to be postmaster, first in Durham, New Hampshire, where a 36-year-old man was hired instead, and subsequently in Somersworth, New Hampshire, where she was passed over for a 53-year-old man.
During her interview for the Somersworth post, Warner’s supervisor allegedly expressed discomfort with appointing a female to the role, pointing out that no woman had held the position before and questioning “how that would work.”
After Warner sued the USPS under Title VII and the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the USPS argued in a summary judgment motion that, in both instances, the men hired instead of her had more relevant experience for the respective positions.
A U.S. District Court judge granted the motion, ruling that no reasonable jury could conclude that the USPS’s stated reasons were pretext for discrimination.
