Jorge I. Ortiz of Miami, a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve, was working as a computer specialist for a government contractor when he was called to active duty in January 2002.
After serving about 20 months with the Pentagon's Miami-based Southern Command, Ortiz presumed he would return to his old job. But when he contacted his former employer -- Newington, Va.-based DINA -- the firm said it would not take him back.
Ortiz, 31, sued DINA in federal court Tuesday, claiming the company broke a law that requires employers to re-hire reservists and guard members when they return from active duty that lasted less than five years.
'CORRESPONDING DUTY'
"This is something that not every veteran understands," said Thomas K. Equels, Ortiz's lawyer. Just as reservists have a duty to serve when called, "the employers have a corresponding duty to keep a place" for those men and women when they return, he said.
No one from DINA, which stands for Decision Information Networking Associates, returned a telephone call seeking comment.
The firm's website lists numerous defense, intelligence and anti-drug smuggling agencies among its computer technology clients, including the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) of South Florida, where Ortiz worked.
Complaints like Ortiz's often get referred to Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a national volunteer organization that helps returning soldiers get their jobs back.
"We're involved all the time," said Bud Wallen, head of the group for the Miami area. "Federal law says that when a young man or woman goes away, the employer has to give them a job of equal pay and status and benefits when they return. It's that simple.
"Most employers are very patriotic and do a good job," Wallen said.
"But every once in a while the employer doesn't know the law or is stupid. We explain it, and typically it's resolved."
REFERRING CASE
If not, the group refers the case to the federal labor department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, which regulates the law at issue.
Ortiz initially went that route. But the labor department took no action after DINA submitted a "termination certification" allegedly signed by Ortiz on Jan. 31, 2002.
Ortiz's lawsuit calls the piece of paper "a forged document" that he never signed. A forensic document examiner hired by Ortiz's lawyers swears in an attached affidavit that the signature is forged.
"It's easy to see" the forgery, Ortiz, in uniform, said outside the federal courthouse.
Ortiz is back on active duty for six months, working as a research analyst with the Joint Interagency Task Force East, a Key West-based nerve center for the drug war that houses dozens of military officials, federal agents, and liaison officers from Latin America.
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