Iraq veteran sues over school job

A soldier who served a tour of duty in Iraq and Kuwait claims that the Sacramento City Unified School District failed to give him his job back when he came home in July 2006, according to a federal complaint.

Edward O'Gilvie said he was an assistant principal at Kennedy High School in December 2004 when he was called up for active duty.

"Because it's a public school district, I really didn't expect a problem with getting my job back," said O'Gilvie, 44. "I was hurt, shocked. It was the last thing I expected when I came back."

The school district declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed last month in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

O'Gilvie's claim does not reflect the typical experience in the Sacramento region, according to labor leaders, who say a federal law passed in 1994 is proving effective in easing soldiers back into the work force.

Federal law is clear that soldiers returning from service within five years of leaving a job generally are entitled to get that job back or be given an equivalent position, said Jerrold Jurin, California coordinator for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense organization that promotes cooperation between service members and their employers.

Federal law does not cover certain situations, such as when a company lays off workers or goes out of business, Jurin said.

Jurin, who oversees ombudsman and counseling services for soldiers returning to the work force, said most businesses do not want to risk a tarnished image by turning soldiers away.

"It just wouldn't be good for their business," he said.

Douglas Crooks, spokesman for the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, which represents nearly half of California's 200,000 state workers, said many employees represented by the union have served in Iraq. Only one has raised a complaint about the benefits received upon returning, and the issue was quickly resolved, Crooks said.

"The least we can do is give them their jobs," Crooks said.

Another large local union, the Sacramento Police Officers Association, also has seen returning soldiers accommodated, said Dave Tyndale, the union's vice president.

He estimates that up to a dozen members have gone to war, and no complaints have been lodged with the union.

In the Iraq war, the guarantee of a job has been crucial because volunteer soldiers typically are employed in other professions, said Renee Nash, who teaches employment law at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

"We're talking about nurses, doctors, airline pilots and schoolteachers," she said. "The public policy is we need people to serve in the military, and (federal) law eliminates the fear of signing up."

O'Gilvie is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. He previously had served 21 years in the military but never saw combat. He got his chance in December 2004.

O'Gilvie had been an assistant principal at Kennedy High since August 2002, when he shipped out for a two-year tour.

When he came home early in July 2006, O'Gilvie said he was told there was no job for him and that the school district wasn't obligated to place him until December 2006, his original return date.

"At that stage, I wasn't sure I wanted to work for a district that responded that way to a soldier returning from combat," he said.

O'Gilvie found a teaching job that same month in Chicago but had to get a master's degree to become an assistant principal there. He is now an assistant principal in Chicago,

He said that even as an administrator, he will be making less money than at Kennedy. He is asking for lost wages, moving expenses and school tuition.

The school district cannot comment on his claims or the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Maria Lopez.

Other district employees have gone to war and returned to their jobs, said Linda Tuttle, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association.

About the writer:

• The Bee's M.S. Enkoji can be reached at (916) 321-1106 or menkoji@sacbee.com. Staff writer Lisa Heyamoto contributed to this report.