TweetOn November 21, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Veterans Opportunity Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, which amended the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). VOW protects employees against hostile work environment harassment based on an employee’s military service. Congress passed VOW after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals [...]

Tweet  The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently settled a lawsuit against Lowe’s, a major hardware department store chain, citing violations of the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). USERRA mandates employers to rehire employees returning from a military deployment and not to terminate their employment for at least one year. The DOJ determined [...]

Tweet On September 30, 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Michael Schutz, a member of the United States Army Reserves, against the city of Truman, Minnesota for failing to rehire Schutz following his return from military duty. Truman allegedly violated USERRA by failing to restore Schutz to his position [...]

Tweet On October 25th, the DC Bar will offer a course entitled “Changing Currents in Employment Law 2011: Recent Trends and Developments,” which will cover important recent developments in employment law.  The nation’s top employment attorneys will discuss various topics including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s new regulations relating to the Americans with Disabilities [...]

Tweet The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a jury verdict of nearly $705k for veteran Stephen E. Fryer against A.S.A.P. Fire and Safety Corporation for violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C.  § 4311 et seq., Massachusetts anti-discrimination law, and Massachusetts wage law. Fryer was employed [...]

TweetJustice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, reversing the Seventh Circuit and holding that an employer is liable under USERRA when a supervisor’s discriminatory animus is the proximate cause of the adverse employment action against the employee even when the decision to take the adverse employment action was [...]

TweetIn Bunting v. Town of Ocean City, Judge William M. Nickerson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit partially reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in a lawsuit by William Bunting who alleges that the Ocean City Police Department (“OCPD”) unlawfully denied him a promotion after he complained of [...]

TweetAccording to The National Employment Lawyers Association’s On The Hill, the Veterans’ Benefits Act (VBA) of 2010, which amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), is a clarification of the law and retroactively applies to USERRA claims.  The VBA clarifies that USERRA prohibits wage discrimination against servicemembers, i.e., paying servicemembers lower wages [...]

TweetAdam Carter, R. Scott Oswald, and Jason Zuckerman, principals at The Employment Law Group® law firm, published their article titled Litigating Claims Under The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act in the National Employment Lawyers Association’s Employee Advocate.  The article discusses the three types of USERRA claims: Failure to reemploy the service member upon [...]

TweetPresident Obama has signed into law H.R. 3219, The Veterans’ Benefits Act of 2010, which improves USERRA by prohibiting wage discrimination against servicemembers.  For more information about The Employment Law Group® law firm’s USERRA Rights Practice, click here.