Noteboom The Law Firm

Military Personnel And Veterans Win At The Supreme Court

March 9, 2011 - The United States Supreme Court recently heard two cases involving military personnel and ruled in their favor in both cases. One case involved active duty personnel and centered on employment discrimination and the other on veterans' rights when appealing a previous denial of benefits.

The Court's decision in the employment discrimination may have repercussions far outside the military realm. First Sgt. Vincent Staub brought the case after he was fired after 15 years working as an angiography technician at an Illinois hospital. Staub's new supervisor began overlapping his work schedule with his Reservist training schedule and in 2004 disciplined Staub for violating hospital policy following Staub's notification of his reactivation. Staub was subsequently fired, and sued the hospital for being "hostile to his military service" and plotting "to get rid of him."

Federal law dictates Reservists are allowed to take necessary time for their ongoing training and military service obligations. His trial jury awarded him $57,640 in damages, and a federal appeals court vacated the award under the premise the person who fired Staub "bore no animus toward the military." Finding a clear case of discrimination, the Supreme Court reversed and sent the case back to have the award reinstated or a new trial held. In doing so, The Court eliminated employers' ability to use their human resources department to fire the employee to insulate the company from discrimination liability.

The Court also found unanimously for veterans in the second case, which found that holding courts established specifically to hear appeals in veterans' benefit cases are not to "rigidly enforce deadlines for veterans with serious mental illnesses." This decision comes out of the David Henderson case and specifically distinguishes rules for Veterans Courts based on their operation being different than other courts in that initial hearings for benefits claims are non-adversarial.

Almost 80% of cases where veterans appeal to Veterans Court result in some relief being granted. This means the vast majority of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) decisions are wrong. This decision paves the way for the Veterans Court to hear hundreds of appeals previously unheard for timeliness issues.