7th Circuit Rejects Suit Over Denied Promotion

CHICAGO (CN) - An employee cannot claim that she was wrongfully denied a promotion simply because she had more experience than the employee who got the job, the 7th Circuit ruled.

Also, Shelley Hall did not prove that Forest River Inc. promoted employees on the basis of seniority, Judge Manion ruled.

Hall claimed her failure to receive a promotion was a result of her support of a fellow employee who had been sexually harassed.

However, Judge Manion ruled that Hall did not prove that her support of the employee was related to her failure to receive the promotion.

"The mere fact that one incident preceded another does not prove causation," Manion wrote.

In fact, Hall admitted at trial that she was not asserting that she was more qualified for the promotion as the man who received it.