Well, there are former Blue Angels flying cargo, and you can talk to quite a few fine aviators who did not get a thumbs up when they interviewed, so I do not agree with your United law suit version of this view of training failures. It might very well be that, although, unusual, he saw a spanking new 757 training program and thought it not up to standards for his ability to jump from 727 right seat to 757 left seat.
Not sure I follow what you are trying to say but if you know any of them Blue Angel cargo pilots, ask them about their former skipper DC who had his customary 'personal training issues' flying night freight, resigned and went to Coca Cola's flight department in the entry level position of Chief Pilot (actual title: Manager, Aviation Programs). Is this perhaps who you are talking about in the 727 and 757?
And yes, like United a few years before, Coke was under an EEOC monitored lawsuit settlement to 'promote diversity in hiring':
COCA-COLA SETTLES RACIAL BIAS CASE - NYTimes.com
I do feel that EEOC lawsuit settlements like those at UAL and Coke have dramatically influenced hiring standards, for some folks at least, in years past. Maybe I'm wrong or being judgmental but that's my view. Obviously, many other factors affect hiring standards and the forever 'coming pilot shortage' may further drop requirements to absolute mins.
The poor training history, both before and after being hired, of RS in one of the FedEx MEM Mad Dog crashes was met with calls from the NTSB for better remedial training. However, after the BUF Colgan crash, hiring standards seem to be under NTSB scrutiny as well.
In fairness to the BHM 1354 crew, due to the strong corporate commitment to recruit underrepresented demographics, they were quite possibly hired with significantly less experience than many of their classmates. This might account for some of the captain's difficulties in training years ago. He reportedly had little multiengine fixed wing time when hired at UPS, and what multi time he had was in a Shorts SD-30.
Also, the recent assessments of both crewmembers presented in the docket interviews were glowing. They were both warm, professional and wonderful people by these accounts.