JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES SUIT AGAINST GOODYEAR TIRE and RUBBER CO. TO ENFORCE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF U.S. ARMY RESERVIST

Justice Department Press Release, May 29, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. alleging it violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by failing promptly to reemploy Michael J. Ellis in his factory job when he returned from active military duty.

As a result of an earlier military service-related injury exacerbated by his job with Goodyear, Ellis had become unable to perform physically the functions of his job as a Roll Changer/Extruder Operator with Goodyear in May 2005. While Goodyear searched for a new position for Ellis, he was called to active duty with the U.S. Army Reserves where he served as a Major until his honorable discharge in September 2007. The Department's complaint alleges that when Ellis sought reemployment with Goodyear shortly after his honorable discharge, the company took no steps to identify the position he would have held if his employment had not been interrupted by military service. Instead, Goodyear delayed reemploying him for 51 weeks while repeatedly requesting medical documentation not required or permitted by USERRA as a prerequisite to reemployment.

"No returning service member should have to wait almost a full year for reemployment under such circumstances," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "Such a delay clearly violates USERRA's promise of prompt reemployment."

The Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service investigated and attempted to resolve Ellis's USERRA complaint before referring it to the Justice Department for litigation.

Congress enacted USERRA in 1994 to minimize disruption in the lives of returning service members by providing for their prompt reemployment following military service. As part of the protection the statute provides, USERRA requires employers to reemploy a returning service member in the position the employee would have held had his or her employment not been interrupted by military service.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has given a high priority to the enforcement of service members' rights under USERRA. This is the fourteenth USERRA suit the Division has filed this year on behalf of service members. Additional information about USERRA can be found on the Justice Department's Web sites at http://www.servicemembers.gov and http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp, as well as the Labor Department's Web site at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/main.htm.