DOJ Announces 18th USERRA Lawsuit This Year

In a July 9, 2009 Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice (”DOJ”) attorneys announced that they filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee alleging it violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (”USERRA”) by refusing to provide an incumbent Milwaukee police officer with a make-up promotional examination for detective which he missed while away on active duty military service with the Air National Guard and thereby failing to properly determine his reemployment status as a police officer elegible for promotion to detective.  According to the DOJ Press Release, the officer was eventually promoted to detective based upon a subsequent promotional examination, but the DOJ contends that he is entitled to have his date for promotion to detective made retroactive, for all purposes, to the date he would have been promoted to detective had the city allowed him to take a make-up examination for the one he missed.  See, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/July/09-crt-670 .  As stated in the Press Release, USERRA prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees or applicants for employment because of their past, current or future military obligations, and, subject to certain conditions, USERRA also 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.  The DOJ states that this protection includes opportunities for advancement.  This is the 18th USERRA lawsuit the Civil Rights Division has filed in 2009 on behalf of service members.  Addtional information about USERRA can be found in the DOJ’s website.

Whether employment related discrimination against military service members occurs in Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen or elsewhere, victims of military leave discrimination may contact the DOJ and an attorney to determine if a USERRA lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.