Court rules discharged Pinnacle Airlines pilot did not exhaust administrative remedies; cannot sue for discrimination or retaliation

Nazeeh Younis starting flying for Pinnacle as a First Officer (or co-pilot) in 2002. In 2004 he was promoted to Captain. The next year he was fired for poor performance. Pinnacle argued that he consistently failed his proficiency checks. {That should reassure us about the safety of flying with Pinnacle....} Younis argued that the tests were unrealistic and the results unreliable. He maintained he was a victim of a hostile environment, retaliation, and racial discrimination. The Court upheld his termination, holding that Younis had not exhausted his administrative remedies with the Airline prior to filing suit, and that he could not establish discrimination because he couldn't identify a similarly situated employee of an unprotected race who had been treated more favorably.