DECISION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The claimant, Julia C. Leggett, filed a claim with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (“OCWR”) against her employing office, the Library of Congress (“LOC” or “Library”) alleging that it unlawfully discriminated against her on the bases of her race, color, and national origin when on April 1, 2020, she was not selected for the position of Supervisory Librarian (Acquisitions and Technical Services). The Hearing Officer granted summary judgment for the LOC on the claim.
Upon due consideration of the Hearing Officer’s Order, the parties’ briefs and filings, and the record in these proceedings, we agree with the Hearing Officer that the record does not contain sufficient evidence from which a finder of fact could infer that the LOC engaged in prohibited discrimination when it did not select the appellant for the disputed position. We therefore AFFIRM the Hearing Officer’s Order in its entirety.
I. Background and Procedural History
Unless otherwise indicated, the facts of this case are undisputed. At all relevant times, the appellant, a female of Chinese national origin, was a GS-13 Senior Acquisition and Collections Librarian in the Knowledge Services Group (“KSG”) of the Congressional Research Service (“CRS”), a service unit of the LOC. The appellant’s immediate supervisor was a female of Malaysian national origin.
In February 2020, the LOC posted a vacancy announcement for a GS-15 Supervisory Librarian (Acquisitions and Technical Services) position. After the vacancy announcement was posted, the position’s title was changed to Supervisory Librarian (Acquisitions and Collections) to reflect a prior reorganization. The first vacancy announcement listed the qualification requirements for the position, which included six “knowledge, skills, and abilities” (“KSAs”).
The KSAs were not changed in the updated vacancy announcement. The appellant’s supervisor had ultimate discretion over the hiring process and the selection of the “subject matter experts” (“SMEs”), who would serve on the selection panel. According to the LOC’s standard merit selection process, the SMEs must assess whether each candidate meets the established KSAs.
