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When armed services veteran David P. Bighia walked out of the exam room after his pre-employment health assessment, he felt confident that he would be able to start his dream job as a military historian at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio.

He had no idea it would lead to years of financial ruin and imminent home foreclosure.

More than eight years after that doctor’s appointment, Bighia is fighting the Air Force in an employment discrimination case. A judge has already ruled that the Air Force illegally rescinded a job offer and ordered that branch of the military to pay more than $1 million in damages.

But Bighia has received nothing but a home foreclosure notice from his bank. He and his legal team are tired of waiting.

Now 61 and living in Nebraska, Bighia has been fighting the Air Force, which said it retracted its job offer because officials believed — based on comments from the physician at the physical — that Bighia could not perform his duties.

But according to case documents, Bighia could have served with reasonable accommodation for a heart condition. An administrative judge at the U.S. Equal employment opportunity commission said the Air Force’s actions violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Bighia’s case against the Air Force has lasted unusually long. The average processing time for employment discrimination cases like this filed between 2013 and...

Read Full Story: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/21/texas-air-force-employment-discrimina...