Soldier says company penalized him because of service

[unhappycamper]

Soldier says company penalized him because of service
By Cliff LeBlanc | The State
Posted on Monday, December 13, 2010

A Goodyear service shop manager who is an Army reservist has sued the company, alleging the company is hurting his career because he has taken time off for his military training.

Alan J. King’s complaint is among a small but growing trend of claims by veterans who say that their service to the nation is causing them troubles in the workplace, according to the Reserve Officers Association, a Washington-based advocacy organization.

King, a 26-year-old staff sergeant, contends in his lawsuit filed in federal court in Columbia that Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. has discriminated against him by placing him on probation and transferring him to a low-volume store in Rock Hill, where he is likely to make less money.

King cites his 2009 job evaluation by his boss. It states in part that King “leaves for long periods of time with military duties. Can’t follow threw (sic) with projects that come due while he is gone.” Overall, however, the evaluation states King meets expectations for his job as a service manager.

Goodyear’s district manager told King in August that “Goodyear was to be his primary obligation in his working life, taking priority over the United States military during a time of war,” according to the suit, which also contends the store manager complained King’s absences caused the district manager to “pick up the slack.”

[Bandit]

1. As a business owner I would NEVER hire a Reservist or National Guard person

The needs of my business come first. They want to be military, let the military take care of them. Why should I allow my business to suffer because it hired someone who could only be there part time and could leave at any given moment..

[polmaven]

3. I can see your point of view

as of what, I assume, is a business somewhat smaller than Goodyear. But for the large corporations like Goodyear, this is just wrong!

[Statistical]

7. For anyone it is not only wrong it is a violation of federal law.

[Statistical]

6. Then you a breaking the law. USERRA

Of course you can always do what all the other shitty business owners do and simply lie and provide another reason for not hiring or terminating.

Doesn't mean you are in good company.

Without the national guard and reserves we would have a draft and that would be far more disruptive.

Take you thinking to the logical conclusion. If it is "good" for you to discriminate against national guard then everyone should hence nobody in the national guard would be able to find employment. Hence nobody would be in the national guard. Thus right now we would have a draft of couple million persons.

You are in violation of federal law. As a business owner not knowing the law is no excuse. You should read up on USERRA. Your position is no more defensible than saying you have the right to discriminate against minorities or sexually harass women in your workplace.

[KansasVoter]

13. Bullshit......

So many of these people use it as a extra income job, it is nothing to with "protecting the country". It is the only legal way to have a part time job that impacts the main company and get away with it.

And for you to think it is not a huge impact for small businesses is idiotic.

[Statistical]

19. I never said it isn't an impact on small business.

I simply said it is the law. If you discriminate against national guard /reserve for reasons of employment, termination, compensation, or promotion you are in violation of USERRA. Period. Now the sad reality is you likely will get away with it but you are still breaking the law.

The "reason" for serving in the National Guard doesn't matter. Sure many do it "for the money" far more do it to have a chance at college and a better life (trust me the money alone isn't worth it). Still the guard does respond to civil unrest, manmade disasters, and natural disasters. Without the national guard (regardless of the reason why people serve) you would need some other entity to respond (and have large enough number to handle) to those events. That entity (either volunteer or conscription) would also require protection under the law, protection very similar to USERRA.

Social Security contributions affect small business (not a insignificant expenditure).
Compliance with local zoning laws affect small business (wheelchair access, code standards, etc).
Family medical leave act affects small business.
HCR law affects small business.
Income tax rate for rich affect small business.

The idea that we shouldn't do something because it affects small business is both idiotic (to copy your insult) and a right wing meme.

[KansasVoter]

21. I see your point, maybe they need to have the military pay for the expenses...

that small businesses encounter. I think that might be fair.

[Statistical]

22. That would be a valid compromise IMHO.

I would limit any compensation claims to business under a certain size (in terms of gross sales).

Many soldiers would be in favor of such a compromise also. It is a not insignificant source of stress for revervists. Many employers make their displeasure clear, soldiers know they can be fired for being a soldier but on paper it says "didn't meet performance objectives or some other BS".

Sadly it is generally lower paying unskilled jobs that are more easily replaceable and thus employers feel more inclined to cheat and terminate deployed soldiers when they return. The higher the job pay and skill the less problems a soldier tends to have. There are exceptions but generally it hurts lower income less skilled workers more.

[KansasVoter]

25. I agree with you mostly. I just have seen it impact small companies and .....

the reservist keeps volunteering for more deployments. Does not seem fair.

[Statistical]

29. How is the small business impacted more from multiple deployments.

There is no requirement to keep pay or benefits while deployed.

You are telling me that a small business in current economy can't find low cost temp workers? Really? With 10% unemployment they can't find a worker willing to do the job while soldier is deployed?

I find that nearly impossible to believe.

[KansasVoter]

31. Recruiting costs, training time and costs. You must not have run a business.....

Getting the person benefits. Etc. And then having no idea if it is going to be 8 weeks or 8 months. And then it is sad to have to cut them loose. And then the person actually might go back in 6 - 8 weeks. This is a real life example. The reservist is volunteering for more deployments.

[WinkyDink]

27. When are we not at war? I know guys who were in their 40's and went to Gulf War 1.

[KansasVoter]

11. +1000

[brendan120678]

14. Would you say the same thing about a pregnant woman?

"As a business owner I would NEVER hire a pregnant woman.

The needs of my business come first. They want to have kids, let their husbands take care of them. Why should I allow my business to suffer because it hired someone who gets sick every morning and could go out on maternity leave at any given moment for six weeks or more.."

[Statistical]

16. Would you say the same thing about someone with cancer?

[Statistical]

17. Would you say the same thing about someone who has sick family member (family medical leave act)?

[TwilightGardener]

30. That's fine. Just make sure you tell the person you're NOT hiring that

that is your reason for not hiring him or her. Don't make up some shitty-ass excuse.

[polmaven]

2. How hypocritical does it get?

"We love America - unless it means our management has to do extra work"!!!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. K&R

[Statistical]

5. Direct violation of USERRA.

The sad thing is that proving this is often difficult (comes down to he said / she said or "communication issue"). Similar to sexual harrassment or other discrimination cases. "Did the company fire him because he was black or because of their claimed valid reason?"

I knew a lot of soldiers in the guard that had to put up with this crap. Personally I was always lucky and worked for companies which respected the fact that the alternative is a draft and that would be far more disruptive to operations.

I hope he wins.

[T Wolf]

8. EVERY PERSON in the reserve is a VOLUNTEER. They should have no additional perks from any

job simply because of that CHOICE. IOW - the law is wrong-headed on this issue and just plain wrong.

If there was a draft, the situation would be different.

But they made two choices - to join the military and to work for that employer.

Stop whining and live with the consequences.

[Statistical]

9. The law is in place to ensure a draft isn't (and never will be) needed.

National guard pay is anywhere from $2000 to $5000 a year for junior enlisted depending on grade and years of service.
Nobody would join the national guard or reserves if they knew that employers could simply deny them full time work.
Would you accept a job if it capped you income at $2K to $5K a year (because nobody else would hire you)? Of course not and neither would anyone else.

If nobody was in the national guard where do you think the warm bodies currently in Iraq and Afghanistan would come from. Thats right a draft. Also national guard deploys to stateside missions. Natural disasters, fire fighting, security in major power outages, etc. Without national guard how would states deal with these situations. "draft" couple hundred untrained, inexperienced, undisciplined civilians to supplement fire fighters? LOL.

Lastly without a national guard the govt would simply massively expand active military. So instead of 500K active duty soldiers and another million in guard/reserves we would have 1.5 million man military all on active duty and at an increased cost of tens of billions in salary & benefits. The guard saves money by paying a reduced "part time" compensation for soldiers only needed in peak situations (wars, natural disasters, and civil unrest).

A couple of clarifications:
1) The law doesn't require paid time off simply time off without penalty.
2) Most soldiers serve 2 weeks a year plus weekend a month. About half the weekends involve a Friday evening.
3) Given time off is without pay soldiers tend to look for schedules that minimize conflicts.
4) Soldiers are required to provide notice when available
5) Units often try to work with employers. When I was in the guard we got drill schedule for entire fiscal year in advance.
6) In work stoppage type of situations soldiers can request alternate training days (split train).

[T Wolf]

10. And I am in favor of a draft. Let all be subject to military service, not just the poor.

The benefit of giving more people literal "skin in the game" might be an inhibitor of the US military adventures around the globe.

So, from my point of view, using this law to avoid the necessity of a draft is a bogus and wrong-headed argument.

[Statistical]

12. Even with a draft National Guard serves a purpose.

They can respond on short notice and are pre-trained. This is especially critical in natural disasters, fires, or civil unrest.

Unless your post National Guard world will have no only a draft but a militia the situation isn't resolved.

Something like where every able body citizen is forced into service for a period of time to get trained and then be ready to be called up for service (to respond to a hurricane for example).

I don't you have thought it that far. If you had you would realize this national militia would require protection for its members. It would be highly unfair if you complied with the militia call to service and your employer fired you.

Thus some similar protection would still need to be in place. USERRA btw was signed into law by President in response to widespread abuses by corporate america. Yeah lets dismantle laws signed by Democratic presidents to enable corporate American.

[KansasVoter]

15. It hurts small businesses......

And the threat of being sued stops small businesses form doing what they need to do to not be financially impacted by the military leaves.

[Statistical]

18. So does family medical leave act, so does pregnancy leave, do does a lot of other thing.

It is called a cost of doing business.

A wheelchair ramp cost money often more than that business will ever recoup from handicap clients.
Generally we strive to pass laws to make things fair even at the cost of higher profits. The meme that we shouldn't do "x" because it has a cost, is unprofitable, or hurts business is a right wing meme.

There is nothing in USERRA that prevents someone from hiring temp work while soldier is deployed. Nothing.

Funny to see on DU this law bashed. It was signed by President Clinton over the objections of Chamber of Commerce and big corporations. If the entity protected was anyone other than service-members we wouldn't even be having this discussion of a progressive board.

[liberalhistorian]

20. +1,000,000,000

It's truly disgusting to see this here, especially considering that the same people would likely be up in arms over discrimination against pregnant women/mothers, older people, people with cancer or other serious illnesses or with sick family members. The hypocrisy is so thick you could choke on it.

[KansasVoter]

23. A military reserve chooses to take another part time job.......

Not the same as a sick person or a pregnant mom. Or a person who is handicapped.

Have the military pay the small business for their extra expenses.

[Statistical]

24. A pregnant mother doesn't choose to become pregnant and carry to term? Really?

I have no problem w/ military providing compensation to SMALL business for "reasonable" expenses. Most soldiers would support it also. As I indicated above it is a significant source of stress among soldiers. Violations of USERRA are rare among "professional" jobs and rampant among unskilled jobs. It disproportionately affects those at the bottom. They enlist to take one step forward and get knocked two steps back.

[KansasVoter]

26. Many don't. And they don't do it to earn money on the side. Reservists do.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. I'd be OK with it if it covered every kind of public service.

Like being a sub teacher, for instance. Or in a fire brigade.

This assumption -- nay, dogma -- that a military job is more deserving of praise than any other pisses me off to no end.