Elsewhere in the Courts: Employment

A federal appeals court has ruled that the City of Chicago did not violate the rights of two officers deployed overseas with the U.S. Armed Forces when it asked them to travel to take a test for possible advancement with the police. Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act, workers who are serving in the military may not be denied any benefit of employment because of their service. The officers argued that because they had to travel from their places of deployment to take the advancement test, their coworkers based in Chicago had an unfair advantage. The court ruled that the police department did not violate the law because the opportunity to take the test, not the location or circumstances, was the benefit of employment. (Sandoval v. City of Chicago, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 08-2699, 2009)