[Shadow_Group] Returning soldiers wade into new battle: jobs

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

Article Published: Monday, October 25, 2004  
Returning soldiers wade into new battle: jobs
By Alicia Caldwell 
Denver Post Staff Writer

Post / Andy Cross 

FROM:
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2490036,00.html<http://wwwdenverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2490036,00.html>
U.S. Marine reservist Lt. Col. Steve Duarte lost his
job at Agilent Technologies within months of his
returning home from an eight-month tour of duty in
Iraq and Kuwait. "I think this case is a lot bigger
than me," Duarte said. 
 
When John Lowrie's phone rings these days, misery
frequently is at the other end of the line. 

Lowrie, a Denver lawyer who volunteers to help
returning soldiers get back their civilian jobs, said
he has noticed an uptick in calls from the state's
National Guard and Reserve members.

They've been downsized, outsourced, or even replaced.

"It's really a rotten deal," said George Aucoin Jr., a
lawyer who represents a Marine Corps reservist who
lost his job at the Denver Tech Center.

It's a problem that has gained attention nationwide.
Complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Labor for
fiscal 2004 are up 11 percent over the prior fiscal
year.

U.S. attorneys across the country are now getting
involved.


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While formal complaints in Colorado are on track to
slightly decrease, those on the front lines of this
issue say they are hearing about more disputes. And
labor lawyers are predicting more conflicts as the
169,394 Guard and Reserve members currently deployed
come home to companies that have suffered through
tough economic times.

Last month, the Department of Justice announced that
its civil-rights lawyers would take responsibility for
enforcing 1994 labor laws that protect the jobs of
those who have served, and go after employers who
violate the law.

"All of this is designed to make the system work
better and to ensure that these men and women get back
their jobs when they return," said Frederico Juarbe
Jr., assistant secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training.

In Colorado, that push already has begun.

U.S. Attorney John Suthers filed two lawsuits two
years ago - and settled them earlier this year - for
two men who contended their service cost them their
jobs. A third case was settled without filing a
lawsuit.

"It's very important for those reservists to count on
that employment when they return," Suthers said.

In one of the cases, an El Paso County Sheriff's
Office sergeant was demoted and transferred to the
detentions bureau after he returned early from his
deployment with the Army National Guard, according to
a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Timothy J. Smith said he was investigated, harassed
and lost his position as an instructor at the police
academy because of his service. The Sheriff's Office
eventually settled the suit for $25,000.

Lt. Clif Northam, spokesman for the El Paso County
Sheriff's Office, said the settlement included a
denial of any wrongdoing. He said it was an "equitable
conclusion" for the department and Smith, who has been
redeployed to Iraq.

The Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act, or USERRA, signed by then-President
Clinton in 1994, offers soldiers a wide range of
employment protections.

Among the rights, returning members of the Guard and
Reserve get special protection against firing, except
for cause.

Lowrie, who is a volunteer ombudsman in Colorado
through a U.S. Department of Defense program, said he
tries to get employers to comply with the law and fix
wrongs on an informal basis.

He informs soldiers about their rights - and the
limits to those rights - and companies about their
obligations.

"A lot of time you face reluctance on the part of
companies," Lowrie said.

Lowrie said that if he doesn't succeed, complaints
about private employers go to the U.S. Department of
Labor, which handled 1,454 last year.

Officials there say that while their complaints are
rising, so too are the number of those who have
served.

And if the complaints aren't resolved there, they go
to the Justice Department, which investigates and
decides whether to file a civil lawsuit on behalf of
the soldier.

The law and its implications are gaining prominence as
the country increasingly has relied on Guard and
Reserve members to fight the country's wars.

The situation is made more difficult - both for
employers and employees - by repeated tours of duty.
The current deployment of Guard and Reserve members to
Iraq and other places is the largest such mobilization
since World War II.

When Lt. Col. Steve Duarte, a personnel specialist at
Agilent Technologies, came back from an eight-month
tour of duty in Iraq and Kuwait last year, he expected
things would go as they had when he returned from a
previous tour: He'd pick up where he left off at his
$88,000-a-year human relations job at the Denver Tech
Center.

Within four months of being back at his job, the
Marine Corps reservist was told he was being
"workforce managed."

"That's just a euphemism for a layoff," said Duarte,
of Centennial, who has sued his former employer under
USERRA.

Agilent's lawyer, Thomas Hazard, said that Duarte's
departure had nothing to do with his service, but that
Agilent was going through budget reductions and every
one was evaluated. Hazard said Duarte's skills ranked
low compared to those of his peers, and he was let go.

"His Reserve status has nothing to do with his
termination," Hazard said.

As his lawsuit wends its way through federal court,
Duarte, 51, has sent out more than 100 résumés. He is
struggling to put a son through college, and said he
is willing to take a significant pay cut to find a
job.

"There is an expectation that the laws and the
government is going to help you transition back into
the world you left," he said. "I think this case is a
lot bigger than me."
--------------------------
More online: Click on "USERRA information" at the U.S.
Department of Labor website. www.dol.gov/vets<http://www.dol.gov/vets>

Source: U.S. Department of Labor
 






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