Janiece S. NOLAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Joseph Maxwell CLELAND, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees

This case involves the appeal of the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the Veterans Administration (VA) in the Title VII action of Janiece S. Nolan, Ph.D. (Nolan) against the VA. Nolan alleged that she was forced to resign from her VA position because of sex discrimination. Nolan argued that summary judgment was inappropriate because: (1) there was a genuine issue of material fact concerning the VA’s denial of her request for leave without pay; (2) there was a genuine issue of material fact concerning the voluntary nature of her resignation; (3) the administrative remedy for her discrimination claims, other than the resignation and leave issues, was inadequate; (4) Title VII was not her exclusive remedy and other jurisdictional bases should not have been stricken; and (5) one of the individual defendants should not have been dismissed because he was a necessary party. We reverse the district court’s order of summary judgment on the issue concerning the voluntary nature of Nolan’s resignation and affirm the district court’s order of summary judgment in all other respects.

I. FACTS

Nolan was employed by the VA in several capacities, beginning in 1970 as…