The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has announced a settlement with a Brooklyn Medical Center to resolve a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army who is a former pharmacist at the Brooklyn Medical Center. According to the United States’ complaint, the Medical Center violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) by terminating the Lieutenant’s Colonel employment in the Pharmacy Department after he was called up to active duty status.
The Lieutenant Colonel was ordered to full-time active duty with the U.S. Army Reserves on July 17, 2017, when he was deployed for a tour of duty with the U.S. Army Medical Material Agency at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The Lieutenant Colonel took a leave of absence from the Medical Center in order to perform his military service. He returned to work at the Medical Center on October 2, 2017. Just seven weeks later, on November 21, 2017, The Lieutenant Colonel was informed by a supervisor that his position was being eliminated and that he was being terminated as part of a reduction in force designed to save money at the hospital. The Lieutenant Colonel was the only employee terminated of the more than 100 employees in the Pharmacy Department. After he was fired, the Medical Center promoted and gave pay raises to two mid-level managers in order to cover some of the Lieutenant Colonel’s duties, used non-managers to perform other duties and paid those non-managers overtime. The Medical Center also hired new Pharmacy Department employees immediately before and after it fired the Lieutenant Colonel and posted an opening for his position on a job search website one week before he was dismissed.
USERRA prohibits discrimination in employment based on an individual’s prior service in the uniformed services, current service in the uniformed services, or intent to join the uniformed services. Under the terms of the settlement, the Medical Center will pay the Lieutenant Colonel $195,000 to compensate him for lost wages and other damages. The settlement also requires the Brooklyn Medical Center to provide annual training to hospital officials and human resources staff on the rights of service members under USERRA.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability, and the Medical Center denies that it has violated USERRA.
The protection of servicemembers’ rights is a priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Individuals who believe they may have experienced discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on their military service should contact the United States Attorney’s Office by emailing usanye-civilrights@usdoj.gov or the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division by e-mailing servicemembers@usdoj.gov. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department’s websites at https://www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section and www.servicemembers.gov, as well as on the Labor Department’s website at VETS USERRA Fact Sheet 3 | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov).
Issue:
It is unlawful to discriminate against employees based upon their military service. It is important for facility leadership to be aware of the military status of their employees. Those employees who are in the U.S. Reserves must not be discriminated against, harassed, or penalized in any way if they are called for active duty. It is the responsibility of the facility to determine who will perform the active duty personnel’s responsibilities while they are deployed.
Discussion Points:
- Review your policy and procedures on military active duty deployment. Update your policy as needed.
- Train appropriate staff on your policy and procedures for supporting military active duty deployment and complying with government guidelines. Document that the training took place and file each signed document in employees individual education file.
- Periodically audit all military active duty personnel files to ensure that your policy and procedures on military active duty deployment were followed correctly.
