Armed Forces Military Leave Discrimination Lawsuit

Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice (”DOJ”) announced in two recent DOJ Press Releases that the DOJ has filed its 15th and 16th military leave lawsuits this year under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (”USERRA”).  In a June 18, 2009 DOJ Press Release, Justice Department attorneys announced that the DOJ has entered into a consent decree with the City of Marion Alabama which, if approved by an Alabama court, will resolve the Department’s USERRA lawsuit filed against the City on behalf of a member of the Alabama Army National Guard.  In that case, the Department alleged that the City of Marion violated USERRA by failing to reinstate the guard member following her return from basic training in August 2007.  See, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/June/09-crt-603.html .  Prior to this, the DOJ announced in a June 15, 2009 Press Release that it filed a lawsuit against the State of Nevada and its Office of the State Controller alleging USERRA violations which included refusing to promptly reemploy a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve when he returned from active duty and then by firing him after he filed a USERRA complaint.  See, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/June/09-crt-592.html .  According to that DOJ Press Release, the colonel was Nevada’s chief deputy controller when he was called to active duty in 2003.  After he was honorably discharged in April 2008, the colonel sought reemployment with the State of Nevada, and the Justice Department’s complaint alleges that the state initially offered him a job but at considerably less pay and status and then withdrew that offer and backdated his termination after he filed a USERRA complaint.

Enacted by Congress in 1994, USERRA requires employers to promptly reemploy returning service members in the position they would have held had their employment not been interrupted by military service or in a position of like status, seniority and pay.  In addition, USERRA also prohibits employers from retaliating against service members for exercising their rights under USERRA.  The Department’s Civil Rights Division has given high priority to the enforcement of service members’ rights under USERRA.  In this regard, the DOJ has filed 16 lawsuits and obtained 18 settlements under USERRA on behalf of service members in 2009.

Whether employment related discrimination against service members occurs in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or elsewhere, military service victims may contact the DOJ and an attorney or lawyer to determine if a military leave lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.