The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) is an important law that includes protections for servicemembers’ jobs when they return from a deployment. Under USERRA, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) for failing to reinstate Air Force Reserve Senior Airman, Michael J. McCullough upon his return. This case was first investigated by the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service but referred to the Justice Department for litigation.
Refusing to rehire servicemember violates USERRA
McCullough was employed by the OCKPS as a music teacher in January 2022, under contract to teach through the end of the school year. His principal seemed to be happy with his work, as she told him that she wanted him to teach the next year. McCullough was deployed by the military in February 2022. After advising his principal, she told him it would be easier if he resigned his teaching position. He had been deployed for about a month when OKCPS advised him that his contract for the upcoming school year (2022-2023) would not be renewed.
Despite having open positions, OKCPS also refused requests from the servicemember for re-employment. The Justice Department seeks lost wages and other remedies, as well as liquidated damages, since this is the second time that McCullough has had to exert his rights under USERRA to return to his teaching position with OKCPS.
Find out more about servicemembers’ rights to re-employment
U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma said, “service members are called to leave their home and work to serve and protect us.” A call to duty should not impact their civilian employment, and they should not be discriminated against due to military obligations. USERRA is one of many laws that protect servicemembers and veterans pertaining to employment. To get more information about USERRA and other initiatives, please visit the Department of Labor’s webpage.
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
