United Airlines sued for denying benefits to Air Force reservist on military leave

The Justice Department filed a complaint on August 15, 2016 alleging that United Airlines violated the employment rights of U.S. Air Force Reservist Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Fandrei under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). According to the complaint, United violated USERRA by denying Fandrei employment benefits during his military leave that it grants to other employees for similar types of leave. Specifically, the complaint alleges that United failed to credit Fandrei with sick leave for his active duty deployment in 2012 and 2013. During that time, Fandrei was mobilized as a KC-10 pilot in Southwest Asia. Fandrei