Jeffrey M. Gilligan, an Individual v. Department of Labor Lynn Martin, Secretary of Labor

Gilligan appeals from a judgment entered after a court trial on his employment discrimination action against the Department of Labor (Department) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a). We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

The Department’s Portland office has employed Gilligan as a compliance specialist in its Wage and Hour division since 1976. In 1988, Gilligan applied for a newly created position: an additional assistant district director in the Portland office. He was not selected to be in the group of three finalists, which consisted of one man and two women. Gilligan, who is a white male, believed that the denial of this promotion resulted from illegal discrimination on the basis of gender and brought this Title VII action against the Department.

At trial, Robert Provencio, the Portland District Director, who was among those who had responsibility for hiring the new assistant director, testified that the hiring decision was made entirely on merit without reference to any applicant’s gender. On the other hand,…