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Is school discriminating against student soldier?

Q. My son, who is 17, recently enlisted in the Army’s “split entry” program, which required him to attend basic training after his junior year of high school. He spent the summer in basic training at Fort Leonard Wood. Mo., and graduated with honors. He just came home and returned to high school to finish his senior year this fall.

Prior to leaving for basic training, he was a three-sport varsity athlete who started in both his sophomore and junior years in football, wrestling, and track. Last year in football, in addition to being a full-time starter, he was selected as an All-State and All-Area player. He is not a discipline problem and is one of those young men who gives 150 percent, including playing injured and sick.

Since he has returned from basic training, he is no longer a starter on the football team. He now gets only a fraction of the playing time he used to before he went to basic training, and no good explanation has been given of why his playing time was reduced or what he needs to do to become a starter once again. He has been subjected to disrespectful, derogatory comments about his Army training and service from the coaching staff.

I know that employers are not allowed to engage in such behavior, but are high schools allowed to treat our student soldiers that way?

I would really appreciate your guidance.

A. Well first of all, let me say that I am very proud of your son — he truly is a great young American! Good for him attending basic training at such a young age when most other youngsters are hanging out and partying.

It is quite disheartening that the coaching staff is treating your son so poorly upon his return. My first advice to you would be take a step back and ask other parents on the team if they notice any changes in your son that would necessitate a change in his starting or play time, i.e. is he more aggressive since he came back from basic, did he lose too much weight during basic? Is there a valid reason for the coaching staff changing his playtime?

If not, the next step would be to analyze whether your son is protected under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act, as the school district is not an employer as defined under the law.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe your son is protected under USERRA. However, that does not mean the school can discriminate against him based on military service. I would try to resolve the issue by having your son talk to the coaching staff and find out what the real issue is and what he needs to accomplish to become a starter.

If this doesn’t work, a call from you to the principal or the school district may clear up the issue.

As a last resort, you may want to consider hiring an attorney to communicate with the school district, which probably would not want to attract negative media attention concerning a citizen-soldier-student being discriminated against by the coaching staff.

I would try to resolve the issue at the lowest level first, and then walk it up the chain, in order to minimize any blowback to your son.

I wish you and him the best of luck.

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Mathew B. Tully, Esq. is a field artillery officer in the New York National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is also the founding partner of Tully, Rinckey and Associates (www.fedattorney.com), a law firm in Albany, N.Y. E-mail your legal questions to askthelawyer@militarytimes.com.

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The information in this column is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney or other professional when an opinion is needed.