United We Stand: A Time Barred Tenet?
By Ariel E. Solomon, Senior Associate

 

As the campaign for the 2008 presidential election hastens, our Nation’s thoughts are drawn to the many noteworthy events that occurred during the current administration’s term of office. This election year my thoughts are of the violence permeating the Middle East and the affect it has on the many factions of our society.

This past September marked the six-year anniversary of September 11th. New Yorkers will remember the date as the moment in time our skyline was replaced by halos of smoke, and our streets by remnants of two towers that once marked the center of the City’s financial district. For many more, the date also represents a landmark in US Foreign policy and the impetus for a war on terrorism that endures six years after the terrorist attack on American soil. However, for too many Americans the date symbolizes the deployment of a family member to serve in the armed forces; necessitating prolonged absences from family, friends, and civilian life.

While the world’s focus remains in the Middle East, it is perhaps this last prong that has created the greatest need for employment discrimination attorneys and civil litigators to take note. The United States made a promise to remain “unified” in its response to terrorism. For too many reservists and veterans, this promise has become obscured with the passage of time and economic overtures. Employment benefits are diminished and jobs lost due to prolonged periods of deployment.

To counter-act the deleterious effect mobilization has historically had on civilian employment, Congress created a series of veterans’ benefits statutes, the most recent of which is the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). 38 USC §§ 4301-4333. Amended most recently in October 2001, USERRA protects veterans against employment discrimination on account of military service. The statute is remedial in nature and therefore interpreted liberally, as intended by Congress and recently restated by the Federal Circuit, to protect interested members of the Armed Forces. Pucilowski v. Department of Justice, 498 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2007).

USERRA prohibits employers from denying employees serving on active duty “any benefit of employment” as a result of their military service. 38 U.S.C. § 4311(a). Explicitly, an employer must not deny initial employment, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any other benefit of employment to an individual on the basis of his or her membership, application for membership, performance of service, application of service, or obligation for service in the uniformed services. 38 USC §§ 4301-4333. Attorney’s fees may also be provided for successful claimants in order to offset the cost of bringing an employment discrimination suit. 38 USC § 4323(h).

USERRA is not governed by a statute of limitations, 38 USC § 4323(i); neither should our pledge to support the hundreds of thousands of reservists that were deployed and re-deployed over the past six-years. Tully Rinckey PLLC is a strong proponent and recognized leader in the field of federal employment discrimination. Our practice was founded on the very premise that “United We Stand” is a time-honored tenet that demands exceptional legal representation.

Please contact the office if you or a loved one was discriminated against as a result of military service.

 

 

 

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