A former police lieutenant sued the city of Chesapeake on Friday, alleging he was denied the right to re-employment after returning from service in the Coast Guard.
The federal lawsuit, filed in Norfolk by the U.S. Justice Department, claims Paul F. Sutton, a Norfolk resident, qualified for re-employment under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.
Sutton served in the Chesapeake Police Department from 1974 until the end of 2000 and left to fulfill his commitment as a Coast Guard reservist following orders to report to active duty, the suit states.
He tried to rejoin the Police Department in 2007, but the department denied his request, according to the suit. Consequently, the suit states, Sutton signed on for active duty with the Coast Guard through December 2009.
Attempts to reach Sutton were unsuccessful.
Heath Covey, a Chesapeake spokesman, said the city would not comment because it had not received the lawsuit. A Justice Department spokesman deferred to the department's news release and the suit itself.
The suit asks that Sutton be offered a post of "like seniority, status and pay to the position that he would have attained had he remained employed continuously with Chesapeake and had not served in the Coast Guard."
It also asks that he be paid "lost wages and benefits."
Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com
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Paperwork
This should be pretty easy to settle, I would think..Sutton would have filled out some kind of paperwork prior to his departure from the PD. I know the city will take you back after leaving (I think for a year), but seven.....don't think so. And, I'm not sure why they would be required to do so when it sounds like Sutton elected to leave on his own (retire?). I don't think this is the typical case where the military activates you for a year or two...Seven years sounds more like the length of an ACTIVE DUTY military member, vice a reservist who is activated.
I hope the city obtains the documents from the coast guard to show whether this was "elected" service vice mandated. If Sutton is truly owed this, than he should fight for it. But, something doesn't sound right to me.
Why not run for sheriff?
If Paul Sutton is just looking for a big retirement check, why not run for sheriff like Ken Stolle?
Fishy. Very fishy.
Fishy. Very fishy.
WRONG MESSAGE
This sends the wrong message to all the men & women who serve in the reserves.
These men & women used to leave their homes on a monthly basis to service their Country.
These same "Week End Warriors" ,as they were once so scornfully called, NOW serve side by side with their active duty counter parts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and other far away places.
These brave citizen soldiers, sailors, Marines and Air Men & Women have fought and died with their conterparts.
This police officer has done a great dis-service to his fellow reservists.
Getting Your Job Back
I don't think the officer has a case either, in our city most deployments are a year or maybe 2, even at the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. Some have decided to not come back and stay at their military positions. But the issue we have had to confront is that once these employees military and other leaves are exhausted they go on leave without pay. This status means that they lose their city salary and benefits including health insurance, life insurance, leave accruals, and most importantly their time in the service did not count towards their retirement from the city. For some families the loss of their salary can be devastating, as their military salary is usually much less. These are the issues that need to be addressed by the Feds and codified.
Process
This guy has filed his lawsuit in Norfolk but the party being sued, City of Chesapeake, has not been served the legal papers so they are not prepared to comment. In 2001 the City of Chesapeake brought Public Safety salaries up to be comparible to those of other local cities. Police, Sheriff, & Fire received large raises as they had been grossly under paid. Sutton retired the year before to go full time with the US Coast Guard stationed in Portsmouth. Since then he has kicked himself for not waiting to retire and get the large raise. Nine years later he comes back representing his leaving as being called to active duty from his position in the reserves. This is nothing more than a get rich quick scam. I am confident Sutton's claim will be dismissed in court but what a shame the court would even entertain this scam.
article is lacking
USERRA does not guarantee you a job forever. Most military recalls are for 1 or 2 years. Extensions beyond that are probably voluntary. If my memory serves me right, involuntary recalls are protected under USERRA, but voluntary recalls are not. How long can an employer hold onto a job for you not permanently fill it with someone else? Seven years is a long time. According to www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/userra_fs.htm - total time in a protected status is 5 years. I don't think Mr Sutton has a case.
Good comments
At least some of us do our homework prior to posting. Thanks
Something ppl need to read for this discussion
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/userra.htm
"Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act"
He was called up in 2000, and tried to invoke this in 2007.
If service was over 5 years, it makes coming back under this difficult. If he waited to long to reapply, he also made coming back under this difficult. Two conditions that must be met. Employers do not "hold" a job for someone called up, they simply fill the position.
With a simple 5 min read of this article, Ms. Ross should have realized that the "call up" had minimal bearing on this. If her facts are correct, the real problem is Mr. Sutton not doing his part to get reinstated. Based on these facts presented by Ms. Ross, it would seem Chesapeake PD did the spirit and letter of the statute. So why the story? Ms. Ross was quick to point out the quote about if he had not served in the CG. Implying that the call up, and serving in the military are bad things. The time frame of Bush's war, makes it even worse. Is that Ms. Ross's point of the story?
You all are missing the picture all thogether
If the Lt was involuntarily activated and did not ask for the orders the law requires the City of Chesapeake to hold his position. Why are you attacking and accusing a person who has not only served his community for a large part of his life but also serves his country. If in fact he was involuntarily activated the city should have to pay, he is not trying to "shake" down anyone. The local cities try everything they can to avoid doing what they should and what is right. I am pretty confident that if they had rehire Lt then he would not be asking for back pay. Its time for the City of Chesapeake to step up and be a responsible employer.
?
I knew of an individual, who enlisted, and got his job back in 3 years.
back pay and bennies are lawyerese.
However, having been called back to active duty, he decided to stay in and , probably, get better military retirement / / /
It depends on the law.
There is a lot of politics in ranked police officer appointments.
It looks like the man should get his job back - -no back pay etc.
Am I missing something?
I am having a hard time following. The city does not have a filed copy of the lawsuit. The Officer left to persue another career completely, and then wants to come back with all of the status, pays raises etc. he would have gotten if he had stayed? isnt there a time limit for the length of time you were gone? like three years or something? The whole thing sounds out of sort. Ok so the city does not have the lawsuit...as stated in your column, why would there be a press release from the justice department? or was it a self issued press release by the officer in question?Someone help me here..maybe you whatup..you seem to know the real deal. Thanks