Hah!

[theducks]

Awesome. A semiconductor company has just been somewhat 0wned for firing a Desert Sheild Veteran (aka, Gulf War II - This time it's personal). This guy was a USMC reservist, did two tours of duty, then when he went back to work, they gave him a different job and then fired him after 4 months because he wasn't doing it well enough. Apparently they used this excuse to fire him and some other people because they needed to trim $700,000 from their wages.. they then advertised for the position he was in a few weeks later.

Unfortunately, under Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) this chain of events is rather unwise. You can only fire someone within 12 months of their return from duty if you have a really really good reason. The courts did not agree and the guy got $500,000 in compensation. Yay US legal system working properly! :) I'm sure Aglient probably enjoys the idea of war (yay military spending!), but even if it was a company that didn't approve of it, it's good to know there is legislation like this (in the US anyway, dunno about here) which helps vets. Coming from combat back to working is going to be a big change, and your first year back will probably be the hardest. Yes, you might have problems, but I believe that it's the employer's responsibility to society to deal with any sick leave or other leave that becomes necessary. Treat the person well enough and they'll be happy and continue working for you.

Sorry, end of socialist rant ;p

Comments

[dr-jekyl.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit surprised they tried to fire him in the first place, given the current political climate. But yay for the system working.

Now if it only worked for people who weren't GI's as well...

[loic.livejournal.com]

Theres been a lot of American companies acting like this. Its easy for people here to forget that we're actually at war. BUY WAR BONDS! LOOSE LIPS SINKS SHIPS! DON'T FIRE THE SOLDIERS, MOTHERFUCKERS!