9:21 am UPDATE: And this new company has the audacity to openly advertise for a vacant position of physical therapist in Ames.

Curtsy to: Beth

How do we treat our soldiers when they return from active duty deployment? A federal law states employers must allow military leave and maintain a position for that soldier after they perform their military service. However, an Iowa employer didn't comply.

Pamela Reynolds, an Army Reserve member from Ames, is fighting back after returning from active duty in Texas to find her job was eliminated.
[...]
Reynolds, a licensed physical therapist, has filed a complaint in federal court and requested an injunction to allow her to return to work at Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames.
[...]
Reynolds, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, was called to active duty in November 2005. She requested military leave from Iowa City-based Progressive Rehab, which provided physical therapy services at Green Hills. The military leave was approved and the company sought temporary staffing, according to the complaint.

During her 15-month deployment, Reynolds learned that RehabCare Group East Inc., part of St. Louis-based Delaware Corp., had become the new provider of physical therapy services at Green Hills, the court complaint said.

Reynolds claims that she tried to exercise her right to the job at Green Hills under the federal law. However, she was told by RehabCare's Iowa director that the law did not apply because RehabCare was under contract and did not purchase the business.

Reynolds is seeking the reinstatement of her job at the same seniority and pay, as well as back pay, damages and the costs related to the case.

Reynolds' job actually involved working with older veterans. How's that for a smack in the face?

Meanwhile, Iowa state lawmakers are scurrying to pass legislation to protect civilian jobs of military personnel, in order to add teeth to the existing federal law.

On January 10, U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt heard a motion for injunction by Reynolds. To date Judge Pratt has not ruled on the motion. Judge Pratt was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1997.

Here is a question for lawmakers: Why can't the federal government protect the jobs of its brave men and women who serve and enforce its existing laws, without the soldier having to litigate using their own financial resources?

Shameful.

Concerns about this case in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Iowa may be directed to Marge Krahn, the Clerk of Courts, at 515-323-2865.