Jenkins v. Shinseki

**Jenkins v. Department of Veterans Affairs: What Workers Need to Know** This case involved a Department of Veterans Affairs employee who claimed they were passed over for a promotion due to disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. The worker believed they were treated unfairly because of their disability and filed a lawsuit against their employer. The court ruled in favor of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The judge found that the employee was not promoted for legitimate business reasons, not because of discrimination. The employer provided evidence showing the worker had lower performance ratings from supervisors, less seniority than other candidates, and attendance problems including tardiness. The court determined these were valid reasons for not selecting the employee for promotion and that there was no evidence the employer was hiding discriminatory motives. This decision highlights an important reality for workers: employers can make promotion decisions based on legitimate job-related factors like performance, attendance, and experience. To succeed in a discrimination case, workers must show that an employer's stated reasons are false and that discrimination was the real motive. Simply being passed over for promotion while having a disability is not enough to prove discrimination occurred.