Iraq vet wins appeal against Nashville police
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 24, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Iraq war veteran who filed a lawsuit against the Metro Nashville police department for reassigning him and then firing him after a deployment has won an appeal over back pay and damages.
For the second time in the case, a federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Brian Petty, a former Army reservist who sued the police department in 2005 because they did not reinstate him as a patrol sergeant after returning from a deployment.
Petty argued that he was entitled to his old job under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and that he faced discrimination because of his military service.
After the first appeal to the 6th Circuit, he was reinstated to his position in 2010. And in a ruling issued Tuesday, the three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court's awarding him nearly $300,000 in back pay and damages.
Petty, who was hired by the police department in 1991, was called up by the Army for a deployment and was sent to Kuwait around February 2004 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. While in Kuwait, he was accused of making homemade wine, in violation of military rules. He ultimately resigned his commission and the charges were dropped and his separation was determined to be under honorable conditions.
When he returned to Nashville, the department put him through the same return-to-work process for all officers who have returned from an extended leave of absence. During the process, he was questioned about the military charge he faced while in Kuwait.
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