Case: 22-50600 Document: 00516781098 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/09/2023 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals ____________ Fifth Circuit FILED No. 22-50600 June 9, 2023 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Diann H. Angus, Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 1:20-CV-242 ______________________________ Before Smith, Higginson, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge:* Between 2012 and 2017, Plaintiff-Appellant Diann Angus applied to three job openings posted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), an agency within the Defendant-Appellee Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). Angus was not selected for any of these positions. According to Angus, these non-selections were the result of _____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 22-50600 Document: 00516781098 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/09/2023 No. 22-50600 various forms of discrimination and retaliation. Eventually, after attempting to pursue an administrative remedy, Angus filed suit. The district court dismissed fourteen of her fifteen claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and later granted summary judgment in favor of DHS on the surviving retaliation claim, Angus timely appealed, and we now AFFIRM. I. This case arises out of Plaintiff-Appellant’s so-far unsuccessful pursuit of her ultimate career goal—working as an intelligence research specialist for the federal government. As alleged in her complaint, Angus thrice applied for positions related to intelligence research at ICE and was rejected each time.1 First, in 2012, she applied for both the Intelligence Research Specialist and Intelligence Assistant positions at ICE. When she applied for these positions, Angus requested to be placed on the “Schedule A” certificate.2 Under the “Schedule A” hiring authority, “[a]n agency may [non- competitively] appoint, on a permanent . . . basis, a person with an _____________________ 1 Because Angus appeals both the dismissal of claims under Rule 12(b)(6) and a grant of summary judgment in favor of DHS, we divide this background section between the allegations in the complaint and the facts produced at summary judgment. 2 A certificate is a list of all candidates who are minimally eligible for a given position under a specific hiring authority. So, for example, as in this case, there may be one certificate listing all eligible “competitive merit selection” candidates and one containing a list of all eligible “Schedule A” candidates. These certificates are compiled through the following process. First, each USAJOBS (the hiring platform for federal positions) applicant is asked a series of questions related to federal employment, experience, and education. Based on the applicant’s answers, USA Staffing—a hiring platform for ICE— automatically generates selection certificates for each designated hiring authority. A Human Resources specialist will then review these certificates and verify that each applicant is eligible under the hiring authority and qualifies for the position before forwarding the selection certificate to the selecting official. 2 Case: 22-50600 Document: 00516781098 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/09/2023 No. 22-50600 intellectual …
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