State Reemployment Rights and Laws for Service Members

Brandon Ratliff

An All American Kid from Columbus, Ohio

Born in Ohio on October 27, 1972

Passed away on March 18, 2004 at the age of 31.

Editorial

I have met many veterans from this present conflict, in particular an Army Reserve Sergeant, who told his story at many veteran rallies. The Sergeant is an Iraq Veteran who is the recipient of the Bronze Star in Iraq. While in Iraq, The Sergeant went out on some dangerous missions recovering vehicles that had been blown up by IEDs. He was cited for this by his General Officer.
When he returned from Iraq after 16 months of deployment he discovered he had been secretly discharged from his Canton, Ohio employment.

The charge by his employer was that he failed to supervise an employee, even though The Sergeant had been on duty in Iraq at the time. The Sergeant was offered a severance package but refused it. He had worked at his Canton, Ohio job for over 8 years. This was a pure violation of Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) USC, Title 38, Chapter 43. The Sergeant obtained legal counsel but the employer played hardball in seeing that Federal Court would be a long due process and the GAO later proves this out in their report of this.  It took one year to settle out of court. This employer is receiving state and local tax abatements for the business and even won an award as employer of the year. The Sergeant was in uniform at the Bill signing of Patriot I when the Governor signed the bill into law and he was honored by the Ohio House of Representatives. This was done by State Rep. Peter Ujvagi in a call of personal privilege to the Speaker of the House the day of that bill signing of  Ohio’s Patriot I bill.
           There was another case in Ohio in which Brandon Ratliff, a 1st Lt. in the USAR came home from 9 months of deployment in Afghanistan as an executive officer of a medical unit only to find his newly promoted position ($4000 per year raise) at the Columbus City Health Department had been given to another during his deployment. There has been much press on this within the Columbus and National papers and media. The 31 year old Lt. Ratliff had been employed for many years in the Columbus City Health Department since his late teens. The newly promoted 1st Lt. in Afghanistan during his combat tour, Lt. Ratliff was the recipient of the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Medic Badge. The prolonged stress, aggravation, despair of readjustment and job discrimination in Columbus was too much upon his return.  After five months of fighting for his job and the system, Lt. Brandon Ratliff committed suicide. His last day alive, the Lt., through emails, was desperately trying to get his own legal counsel to understand his situation, and I have those emails. The last days, through his words, was increasingly anxious about the situation he was in. His words and emotions indicate there was a need for understanding that I do believe that only another combat veteran would know and grasp.

I have been in frequent contact with Brandon’s mother, and as a combat veteran, I do believe I understand his anger. I have read the press and media clippings from this matter of this case. From this I have gathered here one can only imagine what Brandon felt being abandoned by a City, a State and a Nation. A Nation, a State, and a City have let him down when he needed them the most when he was trying to readjust back to a normal, civilian life as guaranteed under USERRA Federal Law. That was the feeling that I have gathered from the emails that I have seen.
Yet it is the call of duty, courage and the integrity of men like Brandon Ratliff and The Sergeant that when this Nation needs their services they will still do so. America owes much to people like these and we can never repay them. We can make sure that the job the service member left with, is there when the service member returns and State Legislatures can do their part too. We can make sure that their loved ones can see them off and greet them and have the time off to do that without losing their employment. These two warriors’ stories are the onus for the USERRA Project.

Webmaster

APPEALS PANEL RULES ESTATE OF SOLDIER WHO KILLED HIMSELF AFTER PROMOTION DENIAL CANNOT SUE CITY

The estate of a soldier who committed suicide after being denied a promotion upon return from duty in Afghanistan lost an attempt in state appeals court Thursday to sue the City of Columbus for damages. A three-judge panel of the 10th District Court of Appeals said efforts undertaken by Mayor Michael Coleman's office to help Brandon Ratliff, a lieutenant in the Army Reserves, "unfortunately ... were not communicated to him." Nonetheless, the court said in a unanimous opinion that a trial judge was correct in dismissing the complaint because the city was granted immunity under state law. Appellate Judge Lisa Sadler said even without immunity, the city would still be entitled to dismissal of the suit because Mr. Ratliff's suicide was an intervening cause for which the municipality could not be held responsible. "It is truly tragic that nobody with the city who was aware of the efforts being made on Brandon's behalf communicated to him that those efforts were being made, an act that may well have prevented the outcome that occurred," Judge Sadler said. "However, that failure cannot result in the imposition of legal liability against the city, because Brandon's act could not have been foreseen," she said. Mr. Ratliff, who began working full-time for the Columbus Health Department in 2001, was in line for promotion to a higher-paying job. The week before he was to start he received orders to report for military duty, and the final city paperwork for the new job was not completed. While in Afghanistan, the health department determined that since Lt. Ratliff had not completed the process, there was no requirement that the position be held for him. Upon return from the Army, he went to work in his old job at the health department but was depressed over what he viewed as a demotion. In response to a newspaper story about the situation, Mayor Coleman's then chief of staff Michael Schwarzwalder contacted the department to express the mayor's wishes that Mr. Ratliff receive the promotion he had been promised. Lt. Ratliff, unaware of the efforts to assist him, killed himself March 18, 2004. Susan Coats, his mother and administrator of his estate, filed a lawsuit charging intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death. Franklin County Common Pleas Court granted the city's motion for summary judgment dismissal. The appeals court Thursday affirmed the trial judge's decision. Concurring with Judge Sadler were Appellate Judges Susan Brown and Alba Whiteside.