Cathay sued in USA for illegal termination
Navy Pilot Says Cathay Illegally Fired Him Over Military Duties
By Jacob Fischler
Law360, Washington (March 18, 2015, 5:06 PM ET) -- A fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve sued Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. in California federal court Tuesday for allegedly firing him when his military duties interfered with his obligations to the airline, in violation of labor laws.
Joshu Osmanski, a Navy Reserve lieutenant commander, claims Cathay violated his rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by firing him because of his frequent absences for military duties.
Cathay said Osmanski was fired for missing mandatory training and lying about whether his military service was voluntary, according to the complaint.
But Osmanksi says the airline had skirted his rights as a service member for years before the firing by hassling him over Navy obligations, requiring him to take unpaid leave for military service, and not promptly allowing him back to work following a service-related injury.
While on Navy duty in September 2011, Osmanski ejected from a malfunctioning fighter plane shortly before it crashed and exploded, according to the suit, which states he sustained serious injuries and required months of physical therapy.
In February 2012, Osmanski requested to return to work, but Cathay replied that he first had to be medically cleared, which violated USERRA, the suit says. That law requires employers to first re-employ injured veterans returning from military injuries, then determine their medical status, according to the complaint. If the veterans are unable to return to their previous jobs, the employer is supposed to be find another position for the service member, Osmanski says.
Instead, Cathay allegedly kept Osmanski on unpaid leave for the next two months, before telling him in April 2012 that he was fired, according to the complaint.
The termination was the last step in a yearslong pattern of discrimination over Osmanski’s Navy service, with Cathay beginning in early 2010 "to detest Mr. Osmanski’s military obligations," the suit says. Cathay managers on multiple occasions between 2010 and 2012 expressed frustration that his military service was interfering with his duties to the commercial airline, according to the suit.
The complaint alleges that in October 2010, a Cathay manager told Osmanski, “We have a business to run, and no government or other entity is part of any agreement that will provide an impediment to our business.”
The airline forced Osmanski to take unpaid time off in March 2011 because he missed mandatory training exercises while on military duty, according to the suit. But Cathay’s practice when employees are unable to fly because of missing such trainings — due to pregnancy or sickness, for example — is to place them on paid leave, Osmanski says.
Efforts to reach Cathay and Osmanksi were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Osmanski is represented by Stephen R. Onstot of Aleshire & Wynder LLP.
Counsel information for Cathay was unavailable Wednesday.
The case is Osmanski v. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. et al., case number 3:15-cv-01254, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
--Editing by Edrienne Su.