Email this page to friends About Samuel F. Wright Captain Wright is a graduate of Northwestern University (BA in Political Science 1973), the University of Houston (JD 1976), and Georgetown University (LLM in Labor Law 1980). His military decorations include a Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, and two Navy Commendation Medals. While employed as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Wright largely drafted (with one other DOL attorney) USERRA, and he has been speaking and writing about reemployment rights for more than 22 years. At the Reserve Officers Association (ROA), he writes a "Law Review" column for ROA's monthly magazine. You can find the back issues on ROA's Website. Click on "Legislative Affairs" then "ROA Law Reviews." Law Reviews 8, 121, 130, and 136 deal with disabled veterans.

By Captain Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USNR

"As a nation, we owe the greatest debt to those who have paid the highest price. That means giving the combat wounded the finest medical care and vocational rehabilitation."

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As the Civil War was drawing to a close, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address, setting forth his goals for his second term. His principal goal was "to bind up the nation's wounds. To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan." These eloquent words later became the slogan of the Veterans Administration (VA), which in 1989 became the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).

Combat deaths in Iraq are now in four figures, but the number of seriously wounded is well into five figures. The military medical departments are doing an outstanding job, and the survival rate from serious combat wounds is far higher than in previous wars. That is great news, but it means that the number of seriously disabled veterans is also higher.

Freedom is not free, and those who serve in our Armed Forces pay the highest price. As a nation, we owe the greatest debt to those who have paid the highest price. That means giving the combat wounded the finest medical care and vocational rehabilitation. It also means helping them to rejoin the civilian workforce. I know severely wounded Vietnam veterans who have spent the last four decades watching television and waiting for the monthly VA check to arrive in the mail. As a nation, we can do better than that!

Congress enacted the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) in 1994, as a complete rewrite of the Veterans' Reemployment Rights (VRR) law, which can be traced back to 1940. For more than 64 years, Federal law has provided the right to reemployment after voluntary or involuntary military service, in peacetime and wartime. Contrary to popular misconception, the VRR law and USERRA have always applied to the regular military services as well as the National Guard and Reserve.

USERRA makes special provisions for returning disabled veterans. The pre-service employer is required to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the disability. Of course, Congress recognized that not all disabilities could be accommodated. A blinded veteran cannot return to the cockpit of a commercial airliner. In that situation, the employer is required to reemploy the returning disabled veteran in another position that provides like seniority, status, and pay, or the closest approximation consistent with the circumstances of the case. If there is a position in the employer's organization for which the returning disabled veteran is qualified, even if that position is not currently vacant, the employer must reemploy the veteran in that position.

USERRA applies to any returning veteran (Regular, Reserve, or National Guard) who meets this law's eligibility criteria. The person must have left a civilian job for voluntary or involuntary service and must have given prior notice to the employer. The person must not have exceeded USERRA's cumulative 5-year limit on the duration of the period or periods of service relating to that employer. (Involuntary service does not count toward the limit.) The person must have been released from the period of service under honorable conditions and must have made a timely application for reemployment.

I recognize that many of the combat wounded do not have rights under USERRA. They did not have civilian jobs before enlisting, or they are beyond the 5-year limit. Those folks do not have rights under USERRA, but they do have rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled persons, including disabled veterans.

The point is that the severely disabled of the current conflict can rejoin the civilian workforce. After medical care and rehabilitation, they can return to their pre-service civilian employers, or they can find other civilian jobs. As a nation, we must do everything possible to facilitate their return to gainful employment.

DOD's National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is another great source of information and assistance. You can reach ESGR at 1-800-336-4590, and its Website is www.esgr.org.

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