Questionable hiring process

[Jennifer Flower]

I am in Washington state and recently applied for a position internally within my company (position located in Arizona). My current position has been eliminated due to a RIF, but I have been performing other project oriented activities related to the position I applied for. The position posting was very vague, but during the interview process, the level of accountability and responsibility was made very clear. It was a promotional opportunity based on our internal banding structure. The only other applicant was an external candidate that was "referred by an employee". I was very qualified for the position and met all the requirements and some of the preferences. I interviewed and was offered the position. Based on market analysis and the level of responsibility, I felt the compensation level offered was low and coutered the offer. I was told that they were very comfortable with their offer based on the fact that the increase was a significant jump from my current compensation.

My question is this, if an external candidate is hired into that position with similar or less qualifications for a higher salary, do I have a case legally against my employer? I think they were intentially coming in low with the compensation, so that they could bring in an individual that previously worked with the hiring manager at another company. (The hiring manager has only been with our company for a short period of time).

Please advise.

 

[cbg]

Unless there are some details you are leaving out, I don't see anything illegal. They are not required to hire the most qualified candidate, even assuming that you are, nor are they required to be consistant with the compensation levels, unless they are deliberately targeting a particular protected group for higher/lower compensation.