{"id":94230,"date":"2020-01-10T15:21:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T19:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=94230"},"modified":"2020-01-10T15:21:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T19:21:57","slug":"i-answered-the-call-of-duty-and-served-my-country-and-i-got-fired-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=94230","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI answered the call of duty and served my country \u2014 and I got fired for it,\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nSgt. Maj. Richard Erickson returned to work Monday after being fired by the Postal Service in 2000 for “excessive use of military leave.” (Courtesy of Richard Erickson)<\/em><\/p>\n

It took nearly 20 years, but the Post Office finally was coerced into righting this wrong.<\/p>\n

Guardsman fired from the Postal Service in 2000 for military service receives notice to return to work<\/h3>\n

Dylan Gresik<\/strong><\/p>\n

A nearly two-decadeslong legal battle entered a new phase this week when a soldier received notice to return to his job with the U.S. Postal Service after being fired in 2000.<\/p>\n

Retired Sgt. Maj. Richard Erickson, a National Guard Special Forces veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart, was dismissed from his role as distribution clerk in Fort Myers, Florida, due to \u201cexcessive use of military leave.\u201d Erickson began working with the Postal Service in 1988 before joining the Guard in 1990.<\/p>\n

Following his dismissal, Erickson appealed the decision to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) citing violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of military service. Court filings show that for nearly four years between 1996 and 2000, Erickson worked at his civilian job for \u201cno more than four days.\u201d USERRA\u2019s provisions, however, maintain a five-year cap for reemployment.<\/p>\n

An administrative judge with the MSPB concluded Erickson had failed to prove his military service was the primary motivating factor in his dismissal and denied the appeal. The case was remanded to determine whether Erickson had \u201cabandoned\u201d his civilian career in favor of a military career.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
\nSgt. Maj. Richard Erickson received a Purple Heart and three distinguished medals for valor in combat through his decades of service. (Courtesy photo)<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2011, after protracted legal proceedings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the board\u2019s decision. Then in 2014, the Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the Postal Service to reinstate Erickson and award him nearly 14 years of lost wages and benefits. \u201cI answered the call of duty and served my country \u2014 and I got fired for it,\u201d Erickson told the Los Angeles Times at the time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I believe I would have told the Post Office to stuff it, and filed a huge lawsuit. Read the entire article here: Military Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sgt. Maj. Richard Erickson returned to work Monday after being fired by the Postal Service in … \u201cI answered the call of duty and served my country \u2014 and I got fired for it,\u201d<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[359,238],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-army","category-government-incompetence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94233,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94230\/revisions\/94233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}