Defense Contractor Treats Reservest Poorly

Palm Beach Post reports Defense contractor Pratt & Whitney and two other companies agreed Thursday to pay a Delray Beach Army reservist $30,000 when they did not give him back the job he left when he was called to active duty in the Middle East. John W. Brainard, 61, was a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserve in April 2002 when was called to active duty. He spent four of the next six months in Kuwait, conducting military intelligence. He returned to Palm Beach County on a Friday in October 2002 and went to work at Pratt & Whitney's north Palm Beach County jet propulsion plant the following Monday. He had been a contractor at Pratt & Whitney — a division of United Technologies Corp. — dealing with a variety of issues, including the company's real estate holdings. Brainard found his desk was still there, but not his job. He declined the company's offer of part-time work at much less pay, he said. Brainard complained to the U.S. Department of Labor, which referred the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In agreeing to pay Brainard $30,000, Pratt & Whitney, EDF Company Inc. and ADP TotalSource Inc. denied violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (to see a PDF of the law, click here, but said it would be cheaper to settle than to contest the matter. The act requires employers to rehire workers whose absence from the job was caused by their military service. Employees are legally entitled to return to their old jobs or to new, comparable positions. Brainard said he was satisfied with the resolution of the case, because he wanted acknowledgement that "I wasn't treated as prudently... as they should have treated me on my return."

USERRA provides that,

• if the period of service was less than 91 days, the person is entitled to the job he or she would have attained absent the military service, provided the person is, or can become, qualified for that job. If unable to become qualified for a new job after reasonable efforts by the employer, the person is entitled to the job he or she left.
• For periods of service of 91 days or more, the employer may reemploy the returning employee as above (i.e., position that would have been attained or position left), or in a position of "like seniority, status and pay" the duties which the person is qualified to perform. (Section 4313)

It certainly does not seem to me that an offer of part-time work at much less pay meets the requirement of "like seniority, status and pay", and it seems paraticularly inappropriate for a Defense Contractor to treat a returning reservist like this.

Hat tip to The Florida Masochist