This post led me to the post by David Lat, from Above the Law, blogging about the Lawsuit of the Day: A Class Action for DOJ Honors Rejects? How did I miss this riveting story? At the forefront of this case is Belgium resident, and U.S. citizen, Sean Gerlich, charging that he and other highly qualified graduates of were not hired in the Justice Department's Honors Program, because of an "ideological bias against applicants with presumed "liberal" tendencies." I liked the following sentence from David about this case  "Please compensate us for being forced to take lucrative law-firm jobs that pay several times the pittance offered by the feds." I am sure that there are many sides to this case and that more information will be uncovered as this case unfolds. 

According to the Courthouse News Service, a central character in this case is  former Deputy Associate Attorney General Esther S. McDonald. Allegedly, the former Deputy AG created and maintained a printout of applicants political or ideological views and attached them to the candidate's application.   In the wake of Social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so many others, it is pretty easy to find out about a job candidate's "true: personality" instead of the one that submits the perfect resume, answers all the right questions, and  looks the part at the interview. The Internet, gives employers a way to look past the "picture perfect interviewee" and really get to know the person, by reading things about them and things by them shared in public places. Word of caution: Nothing is private on the Internet. If you say it, write it, and post it on the Internet, it can be out there in perpetuity. This another topic all together.

Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, from ALM's BLT: The Blog of Legal Times, (Note: awesome name), shared thoughts from the Plaintiff's Attorney in his post "Ex-Honors Program Applicant Sues DOJ". He quotes Daniel Metcalfe, Steve Gerlich's Attorney as saying "This is a guy who had every reason to believe that he was going to work for the government like he did the previous summer, that he would start his career there" Later on he goes on to quote Mr. Metcalfe saying that his client was n “disgracefully deprived of the opportunity to do what he had planned to do, [which was] to return to the Justice Department as an attorney and serve his country.” Are there any guarantees in life? After reading the Complaint, it made me ask this question... I do look forward to seeing how this turns out. The DOJ is an important and central figure in the prosecution of qui tam cases. I hope that this lawsuit or attention surrounding this case, does not distract their attention from such handling pressing matters such as fighting corruption, government fraud and other legal issues.

If you get chance, read the 24 page PDF of the Complaint, Gerlich v. US Department of Justice, from the Courthouse News Service. Click on the following link to David Lat's Above the Law, Blog Post. Thanks for sharing this information. It really helps put this case into perspective.