- Jared Hartman, Esq.
- Posted on May 11th, 2015
Both federal and California laws protect military members from discrimination. The federal law is called Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERA) and can be found at 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-4333. The California law is called the California Military and Veterans’ Code and can be found at Calif. Military and Veteran’s Code § 394. Among other things, these statutes prohibit discrimination against military members by employers for their status as military or for performing their obligations as military members. Discrimination by employers can occur by way of refusing to hire the military member; taking adverse action such as discipline, demotion, or refusal to promote, or denial of ancillary benefits; termination of employment; or failing to re-employ upon return from deployment. In order to obtain civil relief, the military member need only show that the military status or military obligations served as a substantial motivating factor in the employer’s decision, and need not show that military was the sole motivating factor. The employer can only then escape liability if it proves that the adverse action would have been taken even if the military status or military obligations did not exist.
The law firm of Semnar & Hartman, LLP recently filed a lawsuit against Enviro-Master Corporation for such allegations of discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that the owner of Enviro-Master Corp’s San Bernardino branch terminated the military member’s employment by sending an email that specifically cited the member’s military obligations as the reason for the termination. The complaint can be viewed by clicking HERE.