Bryant v. McDonough, No. 22-3836 (6th Cir. 2023)
Annotate this Case
Bryant, who is African American and has dyslexia, was employed at the Cleveland VA hospital as a sterile processing technician. Bryant alleged disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act; retaliation for participating in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) activity; hostile work environment and harassment based on disability; “institutionalized racism”; violation of privacy; non-selection for a position as a painter based on sex and disability; and retaliatory non-selection for the painter position. Bryant moved the district court to appoint counsel, citing her learning disability. The district court denied the motion because the issues were not complex and Bryant had demonstrated sufficient ability to represent herself. The district court dismissed claims 1-5 and 7, finding that Bryant failed to administratively exhaust certain incidents of alleged harassment by a co-worker by omitting them from her EEO charge and that a cited incident was insufficient to create an abusive working environment. The VA’s evidence indicated that the male candidate who was selected for the painter position was disabled himself; his interview score was higher, he displayed greater knowledge of the position's technical requirements, and he had more commercial painting experience. The district court granted the VA summary judgment on the remaining claim.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Bryant’s allegations, accepted as true, do not plausibly show that her work environment was pervasively discriminatory. The district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to appoint counsel.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.