Hrm510: Petty V. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County

Petty v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County

HRM510 – Business Employment Law

August 11, 2013

What were the legal issues in this case?

The legal issue in this case is whether or not the Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County violated the Plaintiff’s, Brian Petty, rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA) of 1994. Petty appealed a previous district court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit under the premise that his rights under the USERRA were violated. (Brian Petty v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County, 2008). Petty was a police officer and left the Metro police department to fulfill his commitments with the United States Army. Petty then sought reemployment with the same police department after completion of his active duty military service (Walsh, 2010).

Under the USERRA “employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to five years” (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright, 2014, p. 72). Further, USERRA requires the employees to give notice to the employer that they have upcoming military duties that require their absence (Noe et al., 2014). In addition, upon completion of the military service, the employee must notify them employer when they return in a timely manner depending on the length of their service.

Explain how the reemployment provisions of the USERRA were violated in this case.

USERRA contains four distinct provisions. “First, it guarantees returning veterans a right of reemployment after military service. Second, it prescribes the position to which such veterans are entitled upon their return. Third, it prevents employers from discriminating against returning veterans on account of their military service. Fourth, it prevents employers from firing without cause any returning veterans within one year of reemployment” (Walsh, 2010,...