Greensboro man who left work to serve in reserves can’t sue to keep his job under USERRA
A man who left his city job to serve his country is not entitled to sue under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, according to a ruling by the United States 4thCircuit Court of Appeals. Oakley Dean Baldwin, a municipal waste manager who served as a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, lost his appeal in his lawsuit against the City of Greensboro, his former employer who he accuses of discriminating against him when he left his position to enter active duty. The USERRA Act is intended to prevent discrimination against people who are currently...
Read MoreSupreme Court Issues Important Decision in Discrimination Case
In Staub v. Proctor Hospital, the US Supreme Court just issued an important unanimous decision in this military-service-based discrimination case. This case concerns the so-called “cat’s paw” theory of liability, under which one supervisor acts with discriminatory intent against the plaintiff, but the plaintiff is actually fired by another supervisor. The case arose under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which protects members of the military from workplace discrimination based on their military position or service. The Court held...
Read MoreFourth Circuit Rules USERRA Retaliation Claim Can Go To Trial
In a recent unpublished opinion, Bunting v. Town of Ocean City, the Fourth Circuit partially overturned a grant of summary judgment and allowed the plaintiff to proceed to trial on his USERRA retaliation claim. USERRA is a federal statute that protects armed service members from being discriminated in employment because of their service. Like other anti-discrimination laws, USERRA also protects against employer retaliation because of filing a USERRA complaint. In this case, a police sergeant filed a USERRA complaint about service-based discrimination and was subsequently denied...
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