A Plymouth reservist and police officer is demanding the city pay him benefits he is being denied, and the Department of Justice is backing him up.
U.S. Attorney David Capp announced the DOJ has filed a complaint, saying the city of Plymouth should pay Robert DeLee longevity pay. Longevity pay is a seniority-based benefit of employment.
The DOJ says, "After returning from active duty, Plymouth re-employed DeLee in his former position in the Police Department but refused to pay him the longevity pay that he would have received if he had not been called up to active duty." They say this is a violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
DeLee was on active duty with the Air Force between September 2010 and May 2011. He has been with the Plymouth Police Department since 1999, and an Air Force Reservist since 1997.
The city has responded to DeLee's claim, saying that they "maintains that its ordinance does not conflict with USERRA and that the employee in question was treated no better or no worse than any non-military employee on a leave of absence." You can read the city's entire response here.
