USERRA/Airline Training
Does anyone know if and how USERRA protects servicemembers in regards to training at the company? For instance, if said member called their company to see if it would be possible to fully complete initial simulator training prior to departing for a deployment in the coming months, could the employer legally respond that they would stop ALL training for the employee until they returned from deployment?'
It seems as though it would violate USERRA because it constitutes an "adverse employment action," which would hold the employee back in their career at the company, and which would not have been taken in the absence of military service. The employer would have to prove "that the action would have been taken in the absence of such membership, application for membership, service, application for service, or obligation for service," and since it was in direct response to a phone call regarding a deployment, the contrary has already been proven.
Now, a defense may be that it would be an "undue burden" on the company, but that seems very vague and I'm not sure how often that works as a defense.
Can anyone on here give some guidance on the matter, and what steps should be taken if this were happening to an employee/servicemember?