Roger Roten v. United States Postal Service, CH-0752-20-0087-I-1

Roger Allen Roten, an employee of the United States Postal Service, was demoted based on a charge of unacceptable conduct supported by four specifications.
Roten challenged two of the four specifications and raised an affirmative defense of race discrimination.
An administrative judge initially sustained the agency’s demotion action against Roten.
The judge concluded Roten failed to prove race was a motivating factor, applying the Savage v. Department of the Army framework.
On appeal, Roten reiterated his earlier arguments, but the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) affirmed the initial decision after review.
The MSPB also considered the clarified legal standard from Pridgen v. OMB and determined it would not change the outcome.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of Demotion for Unacceptable Conduct	Two specifications were not proven, so the demotion should not stand	Sufficient evidence on four specifications, justifying action	Initial decision affirmed; demotion upheld
Race Discrimination Affirmative Defense	Race was a motivating factor in the agency’s action	No evidence race was a factor	Appellant failed to prove discrimination
Proper Legal Framework for Discrimination	Applied Savage; argues outcome should differ under new standard	Initial decision proper; new standard makes no difference	Pridgen standard examined; outcome unchanged
Basis for Board Review	Board should reconsider based on errors or new evidence	No grounds for review under MSPB regulations	No basis for review found; petition denied

Savage v. Dep't of the Army, 122 M.S.P.R. 612 (MSPB 2015) (prior framework for Title VII discrimination claims before being clarified)
Pridgen v. Office of Mgmt. & Budget, 2022 MSPB 31 (MSPB 2022) (clarifies standards for Title VII discrimination and retaliation claims)
Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 582 U.S. 420 (2017) (clarifies jurisdiction for federal employees' mixed cases involving discrimination claims)