Dive Brief:
- A lower court erred in dismissing a Florida police officer’s military leave bias lawsuit for lack of standing because the plaintiff could have sought other relief, even after his employer offered back pay and other corrective actions in response to his alleged injuries, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Tuesday.
- The plaintiff in Baluja v. City of Coral Gables sued the city alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, namely that he had been removed from assignments, harassed for partaking in military deployments and improperly placed on leave. He claimed these actions denied him the same pension benefits, pay and seniority he would have otherwise received.
- Coral Gables moved for dismissal, citing the plaintiff’s acknowledgment that the city had provided back pay as well as pay and leave corrections prior to the lawsuit. The district court determined the plaintiff did not have standing, but the 11th Circuit reversed, holding that the USERRA’s provisions could afford him relief not encompassed by the city’s corrections.
Dive Insight:
The decision illustrates the wide range of relief available to USERRA plaintiffs who allege discrimination on the basis of past or present uniformed service, or application for membership in a uniformed service.
Among other items, USERRA entitles qualified employees to be reemployed in the job they would have attained had they not been absent for service along with the same seniority, status, pay and other rights and benefits for the same.
Courts have previously held that this relief can encompass many specific rights and benefits, including — in some instances — short-term paid leave for absences like training sessions. The law’s protections also extend to employees who lack guaranteed working hours, according to a 2018 decision of the 8th Circuit.
In Baluja, the 11th Circuit determined that the district court “overlooked reasonable inferences” suggesting that outstanding wages and benefits owed to the plaintiff had not been recovered, including his reinstatement to certain assignments as well as lost advancement opportunities, overtime and off-duty details associated with those assignments. The court also noted that USERRA entitled the plaintiff to injunctive relief and liquidated damages.
“These allegations are not affected in any way by the allegations from the initial complaint which the district court incorporated and relied on,” the court wrote.
USERRA compliance involves knowledge of each step in the process of an employee’s service, according to attorneys who previously spoke to HR Dive.
For instance, the law requires employees to return to work at intervals that differ depending on the length of their service. Moreover, because USERRA provides that service members return to the job they would have attained absent their service, employers may need to make reasonable effort to train returning employees to qualify for elevated reemployment.