Office of the State Controller, USERRA Violations, Nevada 2012

Grimy Times has uncovered a shocking case of employment rights violations in the state of Nevada. Col. Arthur Ingram, a returning Army reservist, was allegedly denied his rightful reemployment by the Office of the State Controller after serving his country.

The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that the defendants willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) by failing to reemploy Ingram in his prior position as chief deputy controller when he returned from military service in June 2008.

According to the complaint, after Ingram filed an initial complaint with the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service to attempt to obtain reemployment, the defendants then willfully retaliated against him by withdrawing an offer to reemploy him in a lower paying position as a chief accountant, terminating his employment and backdating the termination to January 2007 to punitively prohibit his vesting in the Nevada state pension system.

USERRA requires all employers to promptly reemploy service members returning from military service in their pre-service position or a position of like seniority, status, and pay. USERRA also prohibits employers from retaliating against service members for asserting their reemployment rights under the statute.

The settlement in this case represents the largest recovery the Civil Rights Division has obtained on behalf of a returning service member since 2004, when it assumed jurisdiction for the enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

The Office of the State Controller has agreed to pay Col. Ingram $262,000 in back pay and $211,000 to fully fund his pension benefits for a nine-year time period from when Ingram started his active duty military service through settlement. The exact date of the settlement was July 13, 2012.

The Office of the State Controller is a defendant in this case. Defendant: Office of the State Controller. Criminal Charges: Willful Violation of USERRA. City and State: Carson City, Nevada. Exact Date: July 13, 2012. Sentence or Outcome: The Office of the State Controller has agreed to pay $262,000 in back pay and $211,000 to fully fund Col. Ingram’s pension benefits.

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