VA Employee Placed on Sick-Leave Restriction Loses Job Bias Suit

A Veterans Affairs Department pharmacy technician failed to exhaust her administrative remedies for job discrimination and therefore is barred from suing, because the complaints she made to the agency only referenced her use of sick leave, not her undisclosed underlying diabetes, the Seventh Circuit ruled.

According to the suit, Erin McHale’s absences caused her to be placed on sick-leave restriction. This placement and her related complaints caused her to be passed over for promotion, McHale said.

McHale also didn’t mention any failure by the agency to provide her with a disability-based job accommodation, the court said. Because all of the ...