A former employee of Acadia National Park has filed a federal lawsuit that says he was passed over for multiple job openings because of his age and his Native American heritage.

The complaint says David A. Smith of Bar Harbor started working as a law enforcement ranger in Acadia in 1998, and when he applied for openings in the roads maintenance division in recent years, the park repeatedly hired white candidates under 40 years old or did not hire at all.

He seeks retroactive promotion to an engineering equipment operator position for which he was previously denied, as well as back pay, accrued leave and damages, according to an amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court on May 20.

Denis McAllister, Smith’s lead attorney, was not available to speak about the case Monday.

The named defendants are Douglas Burgum, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Jessica Bowron, acting director of the National Parks Service. The Office of Public Affairs for the National Parks Service said the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation. The government has not yet filed any response in the case.

The complaint says Smith is Native American and descends from the Abenaki tribe. During most of his adult life, he has worn his hair below shoulder level in keeping with his spiritual tradition. Early in his career, he sought and received a reasonable religious accommodation through the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission so he would not have to cut his hair to participate in training.

In recent years, Smith would occasionally perform seasonal work in the roads maintenance division, including as a general laborer, an engineering equipment operator and an arborist, according to the complaint. He expressed an interest in transitioning to that division and got an arborist certification.

In 2021, the supervisor told workers that the roads maintenance division would add three new positions through “a competitive hiring process,” the complaint says. Soon after, Smith learned that the positions had been filled without a competitive selection by three white employees who were under 40 years old and had no history of EEO activity.

The complaint says Smith applied to two vacancies in 2022 and then learned that the supervisor decided not to fill either position and would instead readvertise them.

Smith filed complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which dismissed his claims of discrimination, the lawsuit says. He filed the lawsuit in federal court in February without an attorney and has since secured legal representation.