Wednesday, November 07, 2012

employment - ex-military - USERRA


Murphy v. Radnor Twp – ED Pa.  – November 2012

 


 

 

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”)

provides, in relevant part, as follows:

 

A person who is a member of ... or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed

service shall not be denied initial employment, reemployment, retention in employment,

promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer on the basis of that

membership…or obligation.  38 U.S.C. § 4311(a).

 

It elaborates further: “An employer shall be considered to have engaged in

actions prohibited ... under subsection (a), if the person's membership ... is a motivating factor in

the employer's action, unless the employer can prove that the action would have been taken in

the absence of such membership.” Id. at § 4311(c) (emphasis). Thus the statute, by its terms,

prohibits discriminatory actions where a person’s military status is simply a motivating factor,

not the sole motivating factor.