Class Action Alleges Delta Has Failed to Pay Employees on Short-Term Military Leave [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on March 19, 2021
Reep v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Filed: March 11, 2021 ◆§ 1:21-cv-01005
A class action claims Delta has maintained an unlawful policy or practice of refusing to pay wages or salaries to employees who take short-term military leave.
Georgia
Case Updates
March 16, 2021 – Another Case Filed
Delta has been hit with another proposed class action in Georgia over its apparent policy of refusing to pay employees for time spent on short-term military leave.
The lawsuit argues that since 2007 Delta has provided paid leave to employees for certain short-term periods of absence, such as jury duty and sick or bereavement leave, yet has failed to provide wages or salaries for short-term military leave of 30 days or less.
Per the case, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) requires that military leave be treated no less favorably than other forms of comparable leave. Delta’s policy of failing to provide paid leave to employees who take short-term military leave while providing such for other comparable forms of non-military leave violates the USERRA, according to the suit.
The full complaint can be read here.
A proposed class action claims Delta Air Lines, Inc. has for years maintained an unlawful policy or practice of refusing to pay wages or salaries to employees who take short-term military leave.
According to the 18-page lawsuit, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) protects those performing duty in the uniformed services from acts of discrimination, including the treatment of military leave on a less-favorable basis than other forms of comparable non-military leave.
The case alleges that while Delta has paid wages to those away from the company for non-military reasons, such as jury duty or sick leave, the airline has, “[s]ince at least 2007,” discriminated against those serving in the United States Armed Services or National Guard by failing to pay wages or salaries for time spent on short-term leave lasting less than 30 days.
“Accordingly, if an employer provides non-seniority rights and benefits to similarly situated employees, including compensation, [USERRA] requires the employer to provide the same rights and benefits to employees during their military leave,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, any period of absence from employment due to uniformed service is not considered a break in employment, and the individual must be treated as continuously employed throughout the length of their leave. Moreover, USERRA entitles the individual on military leave to the rights and benefits not determined by seniority that the employer provides to similarly situated employees who are on furlough or leave of absence “under a contract, agreement, policy, practice, or plan,” the case avers.
As the suit tells it, if Delta provides compensation to those serving jury duty or taking sick leave, which are of a similar duration as short-term military leave and are also generally involuntary, USERRA requires that the airline provide the same rights and benefits to employees during their military leave.
Delta’s policy of failing to pay employees who take short-term military leave deprives those workers of the wages and salaries to which they are entitled under federal law, the lawsuit attests.
The plaintiff, a lieutenant colonel in the Florida Air National Guard who worked for Delta between 1998 and 2016, says he took many periods of short-term military leave throughout his employment for which he should have received compensation.
The case looks to cover all current or former employees of Delta Air Lines or its subsidiaries or predecessors who, between January 1, 2007 and the date of judgment, took short-term military leave during their employment and were not paid the wages or salary they would have earned had they continued to work their ordinary schedule.
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