State Department Liable for Not Promoting Hispanic Employee

A State Department political officer proved his right to recovery on his claim he wasn’t promoted because he was born in Puerto Rico, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Jan. 8 on remand from the D.C. Circuit.

Richard Figueroa only needed to establish a prima facie case of national origin bias because the appeals court already rejected as too “vague” the department’s explanation that he was repeatedly passed over for promotion from FS-02 to FS-01 in favor of more qualified candidates, Judge Christopher R. Cooper said. Figueroa first became eligible for promotion to FS-01 in 2000 ...