Facts

In 1956, plaintiff Carlos Ramirez, 72, entered the Navy as an E-1. In 1986, he retired from the military as a Master Chief, E-9. He commenced work as a file clerk for the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs the following year.

In 2002, plaintiff became romantically involved with a Caucasian female co-worker who was 20 years his junior. He informed his second-level supervisor, Michael Dusenberry, of the relationship. At that point, plaintiff was advised to also notify his first-line supervisor, Mark Daniels, of the relationship, as a job transfer was necessary to ensure that the couple no longer worked under the same chain of command.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the informed Daniels, who berated him. Afterward, plaintiff, who is Filipino, experienced harassment, age and race discrimination at the hands of the agency, namely by defendant R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He was given an unjustified reprimand, placed on a performance improvement plan, and demoted.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that the plaintiff failed to timely report his romantic relationship with a subordinate employee, as he waited six months to notify his superiors. Further, plaintiff was demoted due to his unsatisfactory job performance. For instance, defendant claimed that plaintiff provided inadequate training to his Triage Team and submitted inaccurate weekly reports.

Result

Judgment was rendered in favor of the defense.

Other Information

FILING DATE: March 14, 2006.

Poll

8-0

Length

six days