race discrimination in employment

DOJ Press release here.

U.S. v. S.D. DSS Complaint here.

According to the complaint, in October 2010, Cedric Goodman, a Native American with supervisory experience as a social worker, as well as several other well-qualified Native Americans, applied for an Employment Specialist position at DSS’s Pine Ridge Office. The complaint alleges that after interviewing Goodman and the other Native American candidates who met the employer’s objective job qualifications, DSS removed the vacancy and hired no one. The next day, however, DSS reopened the position and ultimately selected a white applicant with inferior qualifications and no similar work experience. The complaint alleges that DSS discriminated against Goodman and other similarly-situated Native American applicants based on their race.

In addition, the complaint alleges that denying Goodman’s application was part of a pattern or practice of race discrimination by DSS, where the agency repeatedly removed job postings and used subjective, arbitrary hiring practices to reject qualified Native American applicants for Specialist positions.

Over a two year period beginning in 2010, DSS posted 18 Specialist vacancies for its Pine Ridge Reservation Office. Even though the agency received nearly 40 percent of its applications from Native Americans, DSS hired 11 Whites and only one Native American, while removing six other openings entirely.

In Smith-Barrett v. United States Postal Service, a case involving an employment discrimination claim brought by an American Indian woman, the Western District for New York was troubled by the fact the parties did not seem to understand the difference between discrimination on the basis of American Indian race as opposed to discrimination on the basis of American Indian political status. Here is an excerpt:

As an initial matter, the Court is troubled by the parties’ apparent confusion as to whether American Indians comprise a protected class for purposes of Title VII, and their evident inability to locate authoritative case law on the subject. While USPS correctly notes that courts addressing the issue have variously done so under the auspices of discrimination due to race, ethnicity, and national origin (curiously relying solely upon case law issued from outside this Circuit), the fact that American Indian status has been protected on multiple grounds does not erode the viability of plaintiff’s claims. Indeed, other district courts in this Circuit have repeatedly found that American Indians and their descendants are protected from discrimination by Title VII.

Slip op. at 4-5.

Here are the materials:

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race discrimination in employment

Employment Discrimination Claim — Indian Law Confusion