Guardsman fired for Excessive Military Leave gets 2 Million Dollars

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:56:33 -0500

A soldier in the National Guard was fired from his job at the Post Office just won a lawsuit against the Post Office for 2 million dollars in back pay and reinstatement. I know it can be hard for civilian employers to deal with soldiers in the Guard/Reserve being called up but this is pretty blatant. From what I read the law sides with him on this. He appears to be in Special Forces. <div><br></div><div>Was it too much for the employer to deal with this or should be punished to this extent?</div><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./0/0/military1.jpg"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/09/postal-service-ordered-to-reinstate-purple-heart-recipient-fired-for-excessive/?intcmp=latestnews">Postal Service ordered to reinstate Purple Heart recipient fired for ‘excessive military leave,’ report says</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">The U.S. Postal Service was ordered by a federal board last week to reinstate a National Guardsman and give the man $2 million in back pay after he was fired from his job for taking excessive military...</div></div><div style="clear:both"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>

Response by PO1 John Miller made Apr 11 at 2015 10:37 PM

PO1 John Miller — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:37:29 -0400

CPT Private RallyPoint Member , the lawyer is right. The law is completely on the side of the Sergeant Major. That law is the Service Member's Civil Relief Act, or SCRA: https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/scra/ and also The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

USERRA in particular states "Among other things, under certain conditions, USERRA requires employers to put individuals back to work in their civilian jobs after military service. If you are eligible for reemployment, you must be restored to the position and seniority-
based benefits that you would have attained or, in some cases, a comparable job, had you not been absent from work to perform military service."

Clearly the USPS was wrong in terminating his employment.

Response by 1SG Michael Blount made Aug 10 at 2015 1:33 PM

1SG Michael Blount — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 13:33:42 -0400

Interesting the USPS wouldn't give dude the time off, considering it's for military duty and the USPS is a government agency. Well, there goes the price of stamps again. Guess I"ll stick to emails