On Monday a case was filed in District of Columbia District Court by William Tran against Xavier Becerra, in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The case is regarding alleged national origin discrimination by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The plaintiff is a mechanical engineer who worked primarily at the main NIH center in Bethesda, Maryland. According to the complaint, the plaintiff had received exceptional performance reviews for many years and was assigned supervisory tasks over other employees.
However, the plaintiff then alleged that a pattern of adverse actions took hold. The plaintiff’s job description was never changed to reflect the supervisory work they undertook. Additionally, the plaintiff sought career development training, but was never selected for the opportunities. The plaintiff requested consideration for several career advancement opportunities, but alleges that multiple less qualified individuals who matched the national origin of the supervisor were hired instead.
Finally, the plaintiff also alleges that several threats made against the plaintiff were not investigated and that he was the only engineer who was required to perform inventory work, a task that was otherwise reserved to non-degreed employees.
The plaintiff is suing for national origin discrimination, race discrimination and retaliation. They are represented by District Legal Group.
