Ex-Prosecutor Sues, Says USERRA Required Baltimore to Rehire Him After Reserve Training
A former prosecutor has sued the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, contending that its failure to rehired him after he completed military training for the U.S. Army Reserve violated the U.S. Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
Capt. Andrew Gross, 28, also named the city of Baltimore as a defendant in the federal lawsuit he filed Monday in Baltimore, reports the Baltimore Sun.
It really blows my mind that they did this,” his lawyer, Steven D. Silverman, tells the newspaper. “It’s just perplexing to me that the state’s attorney’s office of all people refuse[s] to follow the law.”
The Baltimore mayor’s office referred a request for comment to the state’s attorney’s office, where a spokesman said the prosecutor’s office is working with Gross and his lawyer to resolve the matter.
Gross, who was called up for six months of out-of-state training after working only three months at the state’s attorney’s office, allegedly was told the office had no available position when he sought to return to his job after completing his military training. He applied for work elsewhere, to no avail.
He was originally willing to settle for $30,000, representing the amount of pay he lost, but is now seeking additional damages, according to Silverman.
A website of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel provides detailed information about USERRA rights and remedies,