Another fun lawyer question

[Yegolev]

Let's say that there were two job openings at a company.   Some internal and external candidates are considered and one of the internal candidates hears through hallway conversations that the slots are going to be given to an external of unknown quality and an internal from another department with less experience and qualifications.  The guy who finds this out is a white male and the two people rumored to have gotten the slots are a black male and a female.  The question is, can something be argued based on job qualifications and reverse discrimination, or is the white male up the proverbial creek?

[CmdrSlack]

Based on your hypothetical, there's really no discrimination.

First of all, there's no indication that the two potential hires were hired because of race.  Secondly, there's no indication that the white male was up for the job, but I'll give you that and assume that he was.  Third, getting an "overheard in the hall" conversation in as evidence would be tough at best.  Fourth, it doesn't really prove that dude was not given the job because he was white.  ETA -- Also, as far as I know, there's no law that says, "You have to hire the most qualified guy."  What if the most qualified guy is a total asshole?  Hell, that'd be like me saying, "Well, I'm way more qualified than the woman who was hired, so therefore it must be due to my gender," but I've been a raging douche (or even just a bit unpleasant to work with).  Could it MAYBE indicate discrimination?  I guess, but it's a stretch and likely a non-starter. 

I don't practice in employment law, but it sounds like a case I'd counsel someone against filing.  The white guy COULD sue.  Heck, you can sue for any reason you want.  Whether the suit has merit and would survive a motion to dismiss (and whether there'd be some asskicking for filing a bullshit suit) depends on the frivolity of the suit. 

From my own personal experience, having seen the same thing happen in the workplace, the white guy is likely boned.  Too bad, tough luck. 

[eldaec]

Can't help you in the US, and I'm not a lawyer, but in most of Europe you can take almost anything you like to tribunal because the burden of proof is on the employer.

FUN!

It doesn't work out well for you if it turns out you are just talking nonsense of course.

[Yegolev]

In this hypothetical situation, I was pretty sure CmdrSlack was right.  If this was a real company, the guy would have been working there long enough to expect this sort of thing, plus it has hypothetically happened to him a lot in the past.  The hypothetical guy is still hypothetically irritated, though, because of a lot of things that were left out of this short description.  C'est la vie.