When National Guard members and reservists deploy, a federal law is supposed to preserve their civilian jobs and benefits. It also includes protections for veterans who get injured in the line of duty, and requires employers to accommodate their disabilities. But in some places, including Texas, veterans who work for state governments can't access those protections.
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a Texas case that addresses the inconsistency.
Army reservist LeRoy Torres came back from Iraq in 2008 with severe lung and brain injuries, the result of months he spent living near a massive, open-air burn pit. When he tried to return to his civilian job as a state trooper in Texas, Torres couldn’t keep up.
A chronic cough, extreme fatigue, headaches and memory problems meant he often missed work. But he thought the Texas Highway Patrol would work to accommodate his disability.
“I'm thinking in my head that I'm going to be taken care of,” Torres remembered. “You know, that there are laws that protect us. That with my experience and my education, I'll be able to at least be able to finish my six years that I was hoping to finish with the department.”
But Torres says the agency didn’t accommodate his requests for job modification. He eventually resigned and didn’t get all of the benefits he’d earned. So he sued in state court in 2017, invoking his rights under a federal law called USERRA — the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
Texas...
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