Lena R. JOHNSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Donna W. SHALALA, Secretary, Defendant-Appellee

Lena R. Johnson (“Johnson”), a Native American, appeals the district court’s judgment after a bench trial in favor of Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, in Johnson’s Title VII action alleging wrongful denial of an employment opportunity under 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a), 3(a), 5(g) (1988). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

BACKGROUND

Appellant Lena R. Johnson is a Native American member of the Navajo tribe. Beginning in 1983, Johnson worked as a medical technologist at the Alaska Native Medical Center (“ANMC”) in Anchorage, Alaska. ANMC is part of the Indian Health Service (“IHS”), which provides health services to Native Americans. IHS is supervised by Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“The Secretary”). ANMC’s laboratory is divided into three sections: chemistry, hematology, and microbiology.

In 1989, ANMC advertised internally and nationwide, through IHS, to fill the position of microbiology lab supervisor at ANMC. The advertisement included an explanation of the IHS preference for Native Americans: Native Americans would be considered before any other job candidate.…