This will be a short diary, merely meant to make this community aware of a single case in my neck of the woods (Western Wisconsin). The subject of this story is Mike Hanke, a National Guardsman with the rank of Sergeant. Here is the lede from the online edition of a local paper, The Chippewa Herald
If he had worked in the private sector, Mike Hanke could be assured by federal law that he could resume his job after returning from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
But Hanke is a sergeant with the Wisconsin Army National Guard. And when he got back from overseas duty in January 2010, he no longer had a job as an ROTC Cadre at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Oh, but it gets better (by which I mean, worse). Follow me below the fold...
In a twist worthy of Kafka, the irony here is that his employer was funded by The DOD. Apparently, in the interim, while he was overseas, the DOD decided to alter the situation with the subcontractor who paid for his salary for his position with the ROTC cadre at UW-Stout. At some point the DOD decided to pay these individuals directly, by cutting out the middleman (a company called COMTEK, which I know nothing about). In doing so, they decided they were not obligated to hire Mr. Hanke upon his return to Wisconsin.
Mike has appealed his case, and won it with the support of a piece of legislation called USERRA. Upon hearing his case, the Department of Labor eventually ruled in his favor.
And then it gets truly strange: despite ruling in his favor, the DOD has so far refused to reinstate Mike and pay him the back pay he deserves.
So, this diary is meant merely to bring some attention to him, his situation, and the injustice of his case. Perhaps if we help shine some light on his case, we can help move some decision makers?
Updated by boojieboy at Tue Mar 29, 2011 at 10:25 AM PDT
This has also been reported by a local TV news outfit, WQOW. Link can be found here: http://www.wqow.com/...
It's always a good thing to hear multiple versions of a news story.