Bryant

I. BACKGROUND

Bryant’s first amended complaint for damages (complaint) against MTA, filed in March 2013, alleges he has been employed by MTA since 1997, as an assistant electrical engineer. In September 1999, he was promoted to the “provisional position” of project manager I, and in 2004, he was promoted again to project manager II. Bryant continued in that role until February 2009, when he was effectively demoted through termination from his provisional position. In 2004, and again in February 2008, Bryant, an African-American, had filed administrative complaints asserting he was subjected to racial discrimination in connection with his work. The complaint alleges that in response to the first administrative complaint, Bryant was promoted to the position of project manager II. He received no response to the second administrative complaint, which was filed with MTA’s office of equal employment opportunity, until January 2009, when MTA found the administrative complaint to be without substance. His demotion occurred one month later. The complaint alleges the purported grounds for his demotion were “baseless and pretextual” and the true motivation for his demotion was retaliation…