Employment Discrimination – Mail Handler – Reassignment

A Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant Postmaster General in this suit by a 43-year-old Caucasian female mail handler who suffers from a hearing impairment, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex age and disability.

Plaintiff has not provided sufficient evidence to show that her removal from the outside detail assignment as an interpreter for the hearing impaired and her return to her position as a mail handler was an adverse employment action. By plaintiff’s own admission, her position of record, as indicated on her PS Form 50s, was a mail handler’s position. She contends she was officially an ad hoc interpreter and that the Richmond District simply did not have enough permanent positions open to change her PS Form 50s to reflect this change.

Plaintiff’s impressions concerning her position do not change the fact that her official position was that of mail handler. Nor do her impressions make her return to the position of mail handler an adverse employment action. When plaintiff returned to her mail handler position, there was no change, adverse or otherwise, in the terms, conditions or benefits of her employment.

It is conceded that plaintiff’s employment benefits were affected to the extent that she lost the additional payment of 5 percent of her base salary when she returned to her position as a mail handler. However, this loss in additional salary is not the “significant detrimental effect” contemplated by the test for an adverse employment action.

Even if the return to the mail handler position were regarded as an adverse employment action, summary judgment is appropriate because she has not shown that the action was taken under circumstances that permit a reasonable inference of discrimination.
Summary judgment for defendant.

Olliff v. Potter (Payne, J.) No. 3:08cv049, Oct. 21, 2008; USDC at Richmond, Va. VLW 008-3-484, 15 pp.