OPINION AND ORDER Before the Court is the motion to dismiss of Defendant Elaine Chao. (Doc. 20.)I. BACKGROUNDI accept as true the facts, but not the conclusions or legal arguments, set forth in the Amended Complaint. (Doc. 14 (“AC”).)A. FactsPlaintiff is a white male and was seventy-three years old when the actions giving rise to this action occurred. (Id. 13.)Plaintiff began working for the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) in February 2006 as a Labor and Employee Relations (“LER”) Specialist. (Id.) On or shortly before July 15, 2013, the FAA announced a vacancy for the position of Branch Manager for LER in the Eastern Region Office, and solicited applications during the ten-day period between July 15, 2013, and July 25, 2013. (Id. 29.) Applicants were required to complete an application, and to qualify for the position applicants had to, among other things, “demonstrate in [their] application that [they] possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to FV-1 or FG/GS-13 in the Federal Service.” (Id. app. 5 at 1-2.) Applicants were also required to participate in an interview, which was conducted by a panel consisting of Scott Malon (Eastern LER Service Area Management Project Manager), Irma Field (Headquarters LER Specialist), and Tesha McMinn (Service Area Manager). (See id.
16, 88.) Malon developed ten interview questions “that addressed the management, leadership and technical requirements of the position,” and he created a points-based ranking system to score the applicants on their answers. (Id.