John S. Pope v. United States Department of Transportation

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

Pope applied unsuccessfully for a job as a lawyer with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a part of the Department of Transportation. He has sued the department under 5 U.S.C. § 3330b, enacted as part of the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998, Pub.L. No. 105-339, 112 Stat. 3182, claiming that he would have gotten the job had he received the veteran preference to which he was entitled. The district court dismissed the suit on the government’s motion for summary judgment.

The Safety Administration treated Pope’s being a veteran as merely a tie…