Federal job applicants claiming that agencies refused to hire them because of their veteran status must show that military service was a substantial or motivating factor in those decisions, a federal court has said.
The case involved a complaint that non-selections violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of military service.
According to an MSPB summary, military service is deemed a substantial or motivating factor in an adverse employment action “if the employer relied on, took into account, considered, or conditioned its decision on the employee’s military-related absence or obligation.”
It added that even without direct evidence of discriminatory motives by the agency, MSPB may infer such motivation in ways including the proximity in time between the employee’s military activity and the adverse employment action; inconsistencies between the proffered reason and other actions of the employer; an employer’s expressed hostility towards veterans together with knowledge of the employee’s military activity; and disparate treatment compared to other employees with similar work records or offenses.
However, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the MSPB determination that none of those factors was present in the case before it.
