Female Chinese Postmaster’s Job Bias, Harassment Claims Revived

The US Postal Service must face a postmaster’s claim that her reassignment to a lower-paying location was driven by bias against her as a woman of Chinese ethnicity, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The decision reverses a lower court and clarifies the circuit’s test for establishing the fourth prima facie element of the traditional McDonnell Douglas framework for proving bias in cases involving terminations and demotions. Discrimination can be inferred from evidence that the plaintiff’s job remained open and was ultimately filled by someone outside their protected class or that someone outside the plaintiff’s protected class was treated more favorably ...