When a former employee of the University of California at San Francisco was not promoted to a position that ultimately remained vacant, he began to question why he had been passed over for the promotion. Now he is suing the university for racial discrimination.

The African-American man, who brought the employment lawsuit to the San Francisco Superior Court, said that he was passed up for the promotion despite his exemplary record and qualifications, and he suspects it was because of his race. The school's spokesperson responded by noting that even though the position was open at the time, officials didn't end up hiring anyone for it due to budgetary constraints.

The man, who was hired in 1999 and fired seven years later for a reason unrelated to the lawsuit, is armed with a list of additional grievances in addition to the fact he was allegedly passed up for the promotion.

He argues that UCSF exercised a consistent pattern of discrimination in the workplace, which included racial harassment from his coworkers that went unpunished to inadequate pay for his position. A California judge has already thrown out a wage discrimination complaint.

The man filed a complaint in court in 2009, along with two amended complaints, hoping to settle the matter out of court. When the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on a settlement, the case was brought to trial. The plaintiff is reportedly is seeking the amount of money he would have earned would he have received the promotion along with additional sums for medical expenses, pain and suffering and other matters.

The University of California has denied that the man was discriminated against, referencing the university system's strong track record of hiring and retaining African American employees.

Source: The Daily Californian, "Former UCSF employee files racial discrimination lawsuit against UC Regents," Jordan Bach-Lombardo, Aug. 25, 2011