Military News, News From Iraq & Afghanistan - Military Times

Reservists: Police department violated USERRA

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Two South San Francisco police officers who are also Army reservists have filed a federal lawsuit claiming their department has passed them over for promotions because they served tours of duty in Iraq.

William Carter, 53, has served nearly three decades with the police force and is also a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. Howard Zimmerman, 38, has spent 10 years with the department, and is a major in the California Army National Guard.

Both men claim that the time they spent in Iraq training police and security forces has resulted in their being repeatedly passed over for promotions, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. They now want the court to grant them back pay and promotions.

Their attorney, Daniel Crawford, argued that the police department has violated a 1994 law — the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act — prohibiting employment discrimination based on military service.

“These guys are putting their lives on the line, whether as police officers or as military officers, and to hold against them the fact that they serve in the military is horribly unjust,” Crawford said.

Police Chief Mark Raffaelli, who is also named in the suit, said the department has always supported officers serving in the armed forces. “We have abided by the rules we are supposed to abide by and that’s why it’s really surprising to receive [the suit],” he said.