That's crap! If you're serving in the Guard or Reserve, your employer has to make due. As for your co-workers, that's not your problem, that's your employers'. The guy said he has plenty of time off and the guard commitment could probably be flexible enough so as not to conflict with his primary job, with the exception of "summer camp" or any deployments. As for them terminating him, if I were him, assuming he's got a good record and has been at that job for a while, I'd look into hiring an attorney. They just can't fire someone for no reason, and in today's day and age, they better have some documentation to show the courts what a bad employee he was to begin with. I believe the term is wrongful termination. The problem is if he goes that route, and wins, will he even want to hang around that company. There might be a pot of gold at the end of the trial or plea bargain, but that's a different issue.