Airman Thornton suit against Wal-Mart won job back

Resolution filed over former airman's lost Wal-Mart job

Published Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 6:49 p.m.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The federal Justice Department filed a decree Thursday to resolve a suit with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that it filed on behalf of a former airman.

The suit, filed in March in U.S. District Court in Orlando, claimed the company didn't give Sean Thornton his job back after he was discharged from the military. It claimed Wal-Mart violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by failing to reinstate him as a cashier at an Orange City store after he was discharged.

Under a consent decree the Justice Department, Wal-Mart would be required to pay Thornton $12,000 in back pay, less legally required employee income tax withholding and other statutory employee deductions, according to court documents.

In a statement, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman says that the company has "the utmost respect" for members of the U.S. armed forces, and is pleased all parties are satisfied with the case's resolution.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080501/APN/805011294