Davis

MEMORANDUM *

Randall Davis, an African-American employee at the Washington State Department of Ecology (“DOE”), appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the State of Washington and others (“State”). Davis’s complaint alleges that the DOE failed to reallocate his position from an Environmental Planner (“EP”) 3 to an EP 4 because of his race in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and state law protections found in RCW 49.60. We have jurisdiction to review this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse.

The district court erred by precluding Davis from challenging the denial of his reallocation request pursuant to § 1983, § 1985 and RCW 49.60 under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. The issues before the Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (“PAB”) and the district court are not identical. The district court must consider whether other similarly situated employees outside of Davis’s protected group were treated differently from him. The PAB expressly stated it would not compare the work of similarly situated employees when evaluating the DOE’s decision. See Vargas v. State of Washington, 116 Wash.App. 30 ,…