Armed Forces Military Service Lawsuit

The U. S. Department of Justice (”DOJ”) Civil Rights Division has given a high priority to the enforcement of military service members’ rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).  In this regard, the DOJ states that, subject to certain limitations, USERRA requires that individuals who leave their jobs to serve in the military be promptly reemployed by their civilian employers in the same positions, or in positions comparable to the positions that they would have held had they not left to serve in the military.  Further, the DOJ states that USERRA also requires that civilian employers reemploy returning servicemembers in positions of like pay, status and benefits to the positions the servicemembers would have held if they had been continuously employed by their civilian employers.  In this regard, a Press Release at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/September/09-crt-1031.html says that the DOJ has filed its 19th USERRA lawsuit this year.  According to the September 25, 2009 Press Release, DOJ attorneys filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a company willfully violated USERRA by failing to promptly reemploy a retired Army servicemember when he returned from military service.  DOJ attorneys seek in the lawsuit to have the servicemember reemployed as a full time security guard sergeant.  In addition, DOJ attorneys seek other relief, including lost wages and benefits.  A DOJ attorney quoted in the Press Release commented that “No servicemember should be made to fear for his or her livelihood because he or she answered our country’s call to duty.”  Additional information about USERRA can be found in the DOJ’s website at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp .  Whether discrimination against members of the armed forces occurs in Texas or elsewhere, servicemember victims of employment discrimination may contact the DOJ or an attorney to determine if a military service lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential USERRA violation claim.