Case: 17-14961 Date Filed: 07/19/2018 Page: 1 of 18 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-14961 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 8:15-cv-02097-CEH-TBM CHARLES EDWARD CENTER, JR., Plaintiff-Appellant, versus SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, Customs and Border Protection Agency, Defendant-Appellee. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________ (July 19, 2018) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, HULL, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judge: Case: 17-14961 Date Filed: 07/19/2018 Page: 2 of 18 Charles Center appeals the dismissal of his complaint that his employer, the Customs and Border Protection Agency, discriminated against him in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. Center is a longtime government employee who has suffered multiple injuries on the job. When he returned from workers’ compensation leave in 2009, the agency erroneously offered him a position that paid less than his former position. Although the agency quickly corrected its mistake, Center sued the agency for retaliation and disability discrimination. The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction because of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq., which provides comprehensive remedies for injured federal workers. In the alternative, it granted summary judgment against Center’s claims of retaliation and disability discrimination. We affirm. Center waived his claim of retaliation on appeal. And although the district court had jurisdiction to entertain Center’s claim of disability discrimination, we affirm the summary judgment in favor of the agency because Center failed to present evidence that the nondiscriminatory reasons offered by the agency were a pretext for discrimination. I. BACKGROUND In 1999, Center injured his back working as an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Later, the Service merged with the Customs and Border Protection Agency, and Center assumed the job title of officer. In 2004 or 2 Case: 17-14961 Date Filed: 07/19/2018 Page: 3 of 18 2005, while Center was classified at pay-grade level 11, step 4, he took a leave of absence due to a back injury and received federal workers’ compensation benefits. In 2005, Center resumed his duties, but in 2006, he again took a leave of absence until 2009. And in 2009, he attained a pay-grade level of 11, step 6. In January 2009, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs determined that Center had permanent physical restrictions, referred him for vocational rehabilitation services, and requested that the agency find him a suitable position. Within a few months, the field operations office in Tampa, Florida, offered Center a job as a technician at pay-grade level 7, step 1. The field office warned Center that it would “rescind the job offer” and that the agency “may initiate action to separate [him] from [its] employment rolls” if he did not accept the position by May 12, 2009. Center accepted the job. In 2010, a union steward discovered that “there were [two] full time [pay- grade level 11] Entry Specialist positions available” when ...
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