A Bermudian vet who was denied a top post is continuing her discrimination claim against the Government.Dr Susann Smith’s case has gone before the Human Rights Commission’s Board of Inquiry, close to 15 years after her Government contract was terminated in April 1997.Her lawyer Kai Musson told Commissioners Kevin George, Ed King and Jacqueline MacLellan there had been “systemic discrimination” against Dr Smith as a black Bermudian woman, who originally sought the job of Government Veterinary Officer, but who in 1994 was taken on as a trainee instead.The first day of the inquiry before the Commissioners ended with Dr Smith reading out a 1987 letter from then-Director of Agricultural and Fisheries, Ed Manuel, to Government vet applicant Dr Neil Burnie.An expatriate, Dr Burnie was given a three-year contract for the position in September of that year. In the May letter, Mr Manuel says he recommended Dr Burnie for the position to the Public Service Commission.Mr Manuel writes that Dr Burnie’s application “looks promising”, but that there has been a Bermudian applicant, Jonathan Nisbett, for the job. The letter adds: “The fact that he is a Bermudian could present a problem”, and expresses support for Dr Burnie.Dr Smith expected to take the job from Dr Burnie when she was hired in 1994 as a trainee veterinarian. The Inquiry heard about her 1993 telephone interview for the job with Mr Manuel’s successor, John Barnes.Dr Smith said the requirements for the post were that candidates have graduated from an accredited university, with three years’ postgraduate experience. Dr Smith, whose veterinary doctorate is from Alabama’s Tuskegee University, noted that she had two years’ appropriate experience at the time of her application.She read from her application essay, describing her wish to help Bermuda boost its food supply and her desire to serve as a “vanguard” of animal health.Asked by Mr Musson why the essay made no reference to taking US licensing exams, Dr Smith replied that the ad for the position had not requested it.However, she also said she was told she required three years’ “field experience”, which was different from the postgraduate experience requested in the ad for the job, and said she was told she would have to take US licensing exams in order to be licensed in Bermuda a requirement that “seemed to come out of the blue”.“I thought it was unfair,” Dr Smith said.She sat the exams without success, she added, “but I still was not happy and I didn’t think that I should have been made to take it”.Dr Smith was offered a three-year training position in December 1993, requiring her to pass more exams or her probation could be terminated. She refused to sign it, she said.A similar letter from Government in March 1994, she said, “left me even more confused, because it seemed Government didn’t know what they wanted specifically”. She added: “I refused to sign that as well.”She eventually signed in April 1994, saying she was confident she would eventually pass the exam, but said: “I wasn’t happy.” She complained in writing to Human Affairs Minister Jerome Dill.Dr Smith was released from the position three years later. She had not passed the US licensing exams, and went to Jamaica where an accredited university graduation is enough for a vet to practice.But her Jamaican credentials were not accepted back in Bermuda, at which point Dr Smith issued a writ against the Environment Minister, charging discrimination.Getting her case before the Board of Inquiry this week has been a long journey for Dr Smith.Seven years after her writ and still without a licence, Dr Smith complained to the Human Rights Commission, which dismissed the complaint in 2006. However, that decision was subsequently overturned by Ombudsman Arlene Brock.Dr Smith suffered another setback in 2010 when Acting Cultural Affairs Minister Michael Scott refused to refer the complaint to the Board of Inquiry.She had to go to the Supreme Court, which ultimately supported her request to be heard again. The inquiry continues this week.