Opinion ID: 555763
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Veteran's Reemployment Rights Act, 38 U.S.C. Secs. 2021-26.

Text: 12 Based on the language of the Veteran's Reemployment Rights Act, the case law interpreting the Act, and the legislative history of the 1986 amendment to the Act, we believe that, before October 1986, the degree to which the Act permitted an employer to condition hiring on nonparticipation in the reserves was not clearly established. Therefore, defendants enjoy qualified immunity from suit in their personal capacities based on their actions pursuant to the departmental policy prior to the 1986 amendment to the Act. 13 Before the 1986 amendment, the Act focused on the consequences suffered by reservists in their civilian employment as a result of their military obligations. The statute on its face protected reservists only from the denial of retention in employment or any promotion or other incident or advantage of employment, because of any obligation as a member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces. 38 U.S.C. Sec. 2021(b)(3). Although advantage of employment arguably could be construed to include hiring, the language cannot fairly be read to have clearly established rights in the hiring context. Indeed, the legislative history suggests a narrower intention to protect current reservists from adverse employment actions rather than to secure an affirmative right of an employee to join the reserves. See, e.g., S.Rep. No. 1477, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. 1-2 (1968), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1968, 3421 (stating the purpose of the enactment as prevent[ing] reservists and National Guardsmen not on active duty who must attend weekend drills or summer training from being discriminated against in employment because of their Reserve membership). 14 Case law prior to 1986 did not serve to clarify the scope of the statute with respect to employers' practice of conditioning employment on nonparticipation in the reserves. In Monroe v. Standard Oil Co., 452 U.S. 549, 101 S.Ct. 2510, 69 L.Ed.2d 226 (1980), the Supreme Court held only that the statute was enacted for the significant but limited purpose of protecting the employee-reservist against discriminations like discharge and demotion, motivated solely by reserve status. Id. at 559, 101 S.Ct. at 2516 (emphasis supplied). The Monroe decision addressed only the scope of an employer's obligation to accommodate the current reservist, not the obligation to hire reservists or to permit nonreservist employees from joining the reserves. Indeed, at least one case, Hughes v. Frank, 414 F.Supp. 468 (E.D.N.Y.1976), aff'd, 551 F.2d 300 (2d Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 968, 97 S.Ct. 1650, 52 L.Ed.2d 360 (1977), upheld a county police department policy limiting reserve participation. 15 The 1986 amendment to the Act expressly extended the Act's coverage to hiring for the first time. Effective October 28, 1986, 38 U.S.C. Sec. 2021(b)(3) was amended to include the following italicized language: 16 (3) Any person who seeks or holds a position [with a municipal employer] shall not be denied hiring, retention in employment, or any promotion or other incident or advantage of employment because of any obligation as a member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces. 17 Pub.L. No. 99-576, Title III, Sec. 331, Oct. 28, 1986 (emphasis supplied). The legislative history of the amendment indicates that Congress believed it necessary to expand coverage of the Act to include discrimination in hiring in order to fill a perceived gap in the statute. See H.R.Rep. No. 99-626, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 2 (1986) (stating that [c]urrent law ... provides no protection for members of the Guard and Reserve against discrimination in initial employment because a job seeker is a member of a reserve component). In a statement to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Donald E. Shasteen, Assistant Secretary for Veteran's Employment and Training, Department of Labor, offered the following explanation of the amendment's purpose: 18 [T]he bill would amend section 2021(b)(3) chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, to make it unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire a person because such person is a member of a Reserve component or the National Guard.... The bill would protect reservists and members of the National Guard in the initial hiring situation where they may not be hired because of their obligation to participate in military drills or active duty for training. 19 H.R.Rep. No. 99-626, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 5 (1986). 20 The legislative history also indicates that Congress intended the amendment to extend the coverage of the Act to current employees seeking to join the reserves--a category apparently unprotected prior to 1986. Representative G.V. Montgomery, Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, acknowledged that reservists and national guardsmen are facing increased pressure from civilian employers which includes refusal to hire, refusal to allow already hired employees to join the Reserves or National Guard .... 132 Cong.Rec. H9297 (daily ed. Oct. 7, 1986) (statement of Rep. G.V. Montgomery). He then stated that [t]hese refusals are all contrary to the spirit and intent of 2021(b)(3) as it is now being amended. Id. 21 Thus, based on the language of the statute, the case law, and the legislative history of the amendment, we conclude that the extent to which the Act prohibited employers from restricting employee membership in the reserves, for present purposes, was not clearly established prior to 1986. Because the only issue properly before us in this interlocutory appeal is the district court's denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity, we need not determine the precise contours of the Act's coverage prior to 1986. It is enough that the rights of these reservists were not clearly established until the October, 1986 amendment. It follows that the individual appellants are immune from suit in their personal capacities for actions which were taken prior to the 1986 amendment and which allegedly deterred appellees from joining the reserves or national guard. See Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). 22 The situation is different, however, after the 1986 amendment to the Act. As we have noted, the 1986 amendment made clear that an employer could not refuse to hire an individual because of his or her participation in the reserves or national guard. By prohibiting an employer from conditioning employment on nonparticipation in the reserves, Congress intended to protect potential and existing reservists from policies that deter employees from joining the reserves. Thus, to the extent that the policy prohibiting reserve participation continued after 1986, defendants are not protected by qualified immunity--plaintiffs' rights material to the claim under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 2021(b)(3) were clearly established after the amendment to the Act. 23
24 Plaintiffs' claims are not limited to injuries stemming from the department's original policy. Rather, plaintiffs argue that, even the amended policy, which permitted reserve participation but instructed department supervisors to negotiate scheduling conflicts with the reservist-employee's commanding officer, violated plaintiffs' rights under the V.R.R.A. as amended. 1 However, because the current law with respect to the reasonable accommodation of reservists' requests for leave is not clearly established, we hold that the defendants are immune from damages based on their actions pursuant to the amended policy. We do not decide at this interlocutory stage, however, whether the department's revised policy actually violated plaintiffs' rights under the Act. 25 In this regard, we note that this court has never had occasion to consider whether the V.R.R.A. requires reasonable accommodation of the needs of both the reservist and the employer when a reservist requests a leave of absence. Other circuits have articulated varying standards. For example, in Lee v. City of Pensacola, 634 F.2d 886 (5th Cir.1981), the Fifth Circuit held that the difficulties faced by the City in carrying out its important police duties justified the city's refusal to extend an employee-reservist's leave of absence. Id. at 889. Similarly, in Eidukonis v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 873 F.2d 688 (3d Cir.1989), the Third Circuit held that a standard which evaluates an employee's request for leave and the civilian employer's response on the basis of reasonableness under all of the circumstances is the appropriate one under 38 U.S.C. Sec. 2024. Id. at 694. 26 On the other hand, in Gulf States Paper Corp. v. Ingram, 811 F.2d 1464 (11th Cir.1987), the Eleventh Circuit struck the balance more heavily in favor of the reservist, holding that [t]he reservist begins with a presumption that her leave request is reasonable, and suggests that, absent questionable conduct of the employee, the reasonableness test would likely be satisfied. Id. at 1470. Most recently, in Kolkhorst v. Tilghman, 897 F.2d 1282 (1990), the Fourth Circuit rejected the reasonableness standard as inconsistent with the purposes of the Act. Id. at 1286. 27 The Portsmouth Police Department's revised policy provides a mechanism for balancing the needs of the department with the reservist's need to fulfill his military obligations. Given the lack of case law in this Circuit and the varying standards applied in the cases from other circuits, we cannot say that the plaintiffs' rights were so clear that a reasonable official would have understood that the policy providing for some negotiation regarding scheduling needs violated those rights. See Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. at 3039. Thus, the individual defendants enjoy qualified immunity with respect to plaintiffs' damages claims against them based on the revised policy. 2 At this stage, we, of course, do not decide whether such a policy is actually consistent with the requirements of the Act or whether a reasonableness standard is appropriate in evaluating the policy. 28