LEON BELAUSTEGUI V. ILWU, No. 21-55434 (9th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff sought promotion to the position he claimed he likely would have attained had he not served in the military. The Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Defendants in an action brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by a longshore worker who returned to employment following service in the U.S. Air Force, and remanded.
The court held that certain hours credits and elevation in longshore worker status, as set forth in a collective bargaining agreement, qualified as “benefits of employment” under USERRA. The court further held that, under the “escalator principle,” Plaintiff could pursue a USERRA discrimination claim based on Defendants’ alleged failure to reinstate him to the “Class B” position he was reasonably certain to have attained absent his military service. The court left to the district court to decide in the first instance whether a five-year statutory limitation based on the duration of Plaintiff’s military service applied.
Court Description: Employment Discrimination. The panel vacated the district court’s summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by a longshore worker who returned to employment following service in the U.S. Air Force, and remanded. The plaintiff sought promotion to the position he claimed he likely would have attained had he not served in the military. The panel held that certain hours credits and elevation in longshore worker status, as set forth in a collective bargaining agreement, qualified as “benefits of employment” under USERRA. The panel further held that, under the “escalator principle,” the plaintiff could pursue a USERRA discrimination claim based on the defendants’ alleged failure to reinstate him to the “Class B” position he was reasonably certain to have attained absent his military service. The panel left to the district court to decide in the first instance whether a five-year statutory limitation based on the duration of the plaintiff’s military service applied. BELAUSTEGUI V. ILWU 3
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