Veteran Loses Challenge of TSA Hiring Decision

(CN) - A veteran did not suffer discrimination when he was not hired by the Transportation Security Administration as an airport security screener, the 2nd Circuit ruled.

When Vincent Curtis Conyers was not hired at MacArthur Airport on Long Island, he sued the TSA for alleged violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, Veterans Employment Opportunities Act, and the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Judge Reena Raggi of the New York City-based federal appeals court upheld the district court's decision in favor of the TSA.

The judge ruled that the TSA was not required to use the Federal Aviation Administration's personnel management system to decide whom to hire.

"The question of whether to utilize the FAA's personnel management system ... is a matter committed to the Administrator's discretion," Reena Raggi wrote.

Similarly, "the veteran's preference provisions he contends were violated are simply not binding on the Administrator," the judge added.

Conyers' constitutional claims for equal protection also failed.

"Conyers did not allege that he, or anyone else, was discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, national origin, or other protected classification," Reena Raggi ruled.

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