Promotion Given to Someone Else

[pubs90]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: PA

Last year, I moved into a different position within the same dept in my company. I was heavily involved in writing the job description for my replacement and in the interview process. My manager left around the same time and there was no immediate plan to replace him. Since I had moved into a different position, there was however a need to hire someone to do the work I used to do. A executive at our company had taken a shine to an intern that had worked at our company in an entirely different department several years earlier and had recently met up with him again. She explained the position to him and basically told him it was his if he wanted it. Other than bringing this guy in for introductions, he was not formally interviewed and was hired. Since his hiring, he has received all kinds of special treatment - invited to participate in executive level meetings, executive level lunches etc. These were things that I was not involved in when I worked his job. Fast forward 7 months and I've just heard that he is now going to be my manager. The management position was not advertised internally and when I questioned why, I was told no one else was qualified. When I asked what the criteria was, those that were mentioned were basically the role that I had performed prior to this guy being hired. The difference being that I worked that job for 5 years and he did it was 7 months. Our educational backgrounds are similar also. When I asked why I was not considered, I was told that since I had performed those roles under an old manager, the executive didn't know how I had performed them and so choose this new guy becasue she did know how he had performed. I questioned why the job wasn't internally posted so that I had an opportunity to show that I had the skills and the manager shrugged and said that she couldn't answer that. She also mentioned that since her management choice was relatively new, he would need to rely on me heavily for help!

I do not feel that I've been treated fairly. I am the only female in my dept of 7 guys and as a Mother, I am occasionally out of the office for no school days, snow days etc. On all of those days, I am still available to be contacted by work, but I feel that it is held against me. Do I have a case? I'm not saying the management position should be mine, but as someone with at least equal experience, I feel I should have been given the opportunity to apply.

[cbg]

Unless you have a valid and supportable reason to believe that but for your being female, you WOULD have been given the opportunity to apply, no, you do not have a case. The employer is not required to post all positions and as long as they do not make decisions based on a characteristic protected by law, they are free to handpick their choice of applicant without interviewing ANYONE.