Source: https://pilotlawcorp.com/2017/12/12/ninth-circuit-affirms-employment-bonus-air-force-officer/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 09:43:01+00:00

Document:
In 2001, FedEx hired U.S. Air Force Reserve officer Dale Huhmann to pilot what the company termed a “narrowbody” aircraft. Huhmann was later selected for training to pilot a “wide-body” aircraft, which would have entitled him to a higher salary. In February 2003, weeks before his training began, Huhmann was mobilized for active duty. He served overseas until August 2006.
While Huhmann was overseas, FedEx offered his union a bonus for members if the union ratify a proposed collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The oer letter stated that pilots on active pay status or military leave from June 1, 2004, to Oct. 30, 2006—the day the CBA was ultimately signed—would be entitled to a bonus. The letter established that the bonus for narrow-body aircraft pilots would be $7,400, and the bonus for wide-body aircraft pilots would be $17,700.
Huhmann returned to FedEx in December 2006, received the $7,400 bonus, and began the wide-body aircraft training for which he had been selected previously. He was officially activated as a wide-body aircraft flight officer in February 2007.
Huhmann sued FedEx, arguing that the company violated USERRA by refusing to award him the higher bonus, which he claimed he would have received had he not left for military service and been unable to complete his wide-body aircraft training in 2003. The district court agreed, entering a judgment in Huhmann’s favor after a bench trial.
The Ninth Circuit reviewed the district court’s analysis of Huhmann’s claim under 38 U.S.C. §4311, which requires plaintiff to show, by a preponderance of evidence, that their “protected status was a substantial or motivating factor in the adverse employment action.” Under §4311, if the plaintiff meets this standard, the burden then shifts to the defendants to show they would have taken the same action regardless of the plaintiff’s protected status.
The district court found that it was reasonably certain that had Huhmann not left for active duty, he would have become a wide-body pilot by the relevant period and been entitled to the higher bonus. The court also found that FedEx had failed to meet its burden to show that Huhmann would have been awarded the lower bonus regardless of his military leave.
On appeal, FedEx raised four arguments: that the case should have gone to arbitration under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which requires arbitration of “minor” disputes, such as those over CBA language; that the escalator principle and reasonable certainty test apply only to §4312 claims; that even if the reasonable certainty test applies to §4311 claims, the district court erred in determining that Huhmann met this standard; and that Huhmann’s claim was barred under §4316(b)(1), which limits non-seniority based USERRA benets. The Ninth Circuit rejected each argument.
The Ninth Circuit then found that the district court correctly applied the escalator principle and reasonable certainty test as part of the §4311 burden-shifting analysis and that these principles did not apply only to §4312 claims, as the defendant had claimed. The court also determined that the district court had not clearly erred in finding that Huhmann satisfy the reasonable certainty test. Applying the reasonable certainty test requires courts to decide whether “as a matter of foresight, it was reasonably certain that advancement would have occurred, and if, as a matter of hindsight, it did in fact occur,” the court said. Although FedEx accepted that Huhmann had satisfied the hindsight prong by ultimately passing the training, the company argued that he could not satisfy the foresight prong because becoming a wide-body aircraft pilot was not an automatic career progression but depended on the discretion and judgment of the instructors. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, noting that the facts on record—including Huhmann’s extensive piloting experience and his admission to the training program before his military leave—supported the district court’s conclusion that Huhmann was reasonably certain to have passed the training.

References: §4311
 §4311
 §4312
 §4311
 §4316
 §4311
 §4312