Veterans Trading Company fires exec for military service
Wendell sends us a link to the story of the Veterans Trading Company, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, HUBZone-certified Small Business, that fired it’s President, Paul Costello, a Navy Reservist and a plot, because he went on active duty with his unit and refused to rehire him when he finished his committment. VTC initially filed a law suit against Costello to recover the wages and expenses they had compensated him. Now, the DOJ is taking up Costello’s cause under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act;
The government is pursuing damages equaling Costello’s lost wages and forfeited ownership and distribution shares in the company since June 2013, as well as compensation for legal fees.
Veterans Trading Co. filed a lawsuit against Costello in April, alleging he was compensated improperly in his role as president of the company while on military leave. Federal lawyers are seeking a dismissal of that lawsuit and claim Costello took “personal leave” during his military service to conduct company meetings.
From Market Watch;
On April 30, 2015, Veterans Trading Company, LLC (VTC) filed a lawsuit in Utah State under Civil No. 150902921 against a former officer of VTC for the return of monies paid to him during a time when he later claimed he was on active duty for the United States military. That suit claims fraudulent non-disclosure, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with his employment.
Category: Reserve Issues
I’d hasten to say when your small whatever-the-fuck-at-least-they-didn’t-go-with-native-american-like-someone-*ELSE*-we-all-know business is completely and squarely *fucked* when the DOJ gets pissed off at you and then sets it’s sights on you.
🙄 😀
What makes it worse is the business is trying to flaunt their vet-owned status as something to defend themselves… even though it makes them look even more guilty.
I Worked for this organization for 18 months, and I can provide evidence that they walked the line of illegal termination frequently. They never fired anyone, individuals that they wanted gone would get “laidoff.” These layoffs were cyclic, and occurred every six months, and replacements would always start within a week of a “layoff.”
Do not buy into this organizations claim to support our veterans, their history of laying off highly skilled and competent veterans has become the norm. Just this past January they laid off three veterans, one a retired Air Force veteran, and two disabled combat veterans so they could replace them with cheaper temp non-veterans.
Google Jack Climer, this former VTC president is a convicted felon. He embezzled $33000 from fellow veterans while being acting as their champion in the American Legion all while an active member of VTC. Additionally, Mr. Climer is a prime stolen valor candidate claiming medals he never earned.
VTC loves to claim its disabled veteran owned status to receive federal contracts, but as a company they suck as employers. The current President is so consumed with personal success, he cares not for individuals that work for him. I was essentially laidoff because I was taking too much medical time trying to finalize my service connected disability from an injury suffered while serving with the Army in Afghanistan.
I hope the DOJ stuffs both feet so far up the ass of VTC that they will have to open their mouth so Uncle Sam can tie his boots. I feel bad for all of the quality individuals that work for this company, they just want to support themselves and their families.
Wait a freaking minute – “Jack Climer”? As in Jackie Lee Climer – this thieving a-hole?
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=29554
If he’s involved, then yeah – I’d say that clinches my opinion that the company is dirty as hell. Hope DoJ proves they’re dirty and burns them to the ground.
Yup, same slime ball Jack Lee Climer. Look him up on LinkedIn, his picture is on there, and he lists president of VTC under his experience.
I guess that somebody from VTC should have read the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act before they went full retard and tried to sue the employee. Maybe VTC hired the esteemed attorney from the Pacific Northwest to provide them legal advice.
The facts are not established here but the VTC lawsuit seeks “the return of monies paid to him during a time when he later claimed he was on active duty for the United States military.” The key word is “later,” strongly suggesting that this was not an above-board, routine personnel matter involving an employee who received orders, provided his HR people with them, went on duty, and returned to find he was canned. Besides that, VTC has filed other serious claims (e.g., breach of fiduciary duty) against Costello. As for Costello, he previously brought his issue to the Dept of Labor but, evidently, he had an unhappy result of some sort. I would also point out that the DOJ has now asserted that Costello’s military service was a “motivating factor” in his termination. In other words, this case will be a mess b/c VTC will argue that Costello’s alleged wrongdoings were the reason he was canned and DOJ will either try to show that buried among those other factors was the service issue or it merely will use the weight of its office to force a settlement. This is ugly but VTC is not necessarily wrong.
Not for nothing, and I am far from the expert on this, but I did have to go through a USERRA case manager upon my return from the Rockpile in 2011. My caseworker was really helpful and pointed out options. She was also quick to say that DOJ lawyers will *NOT* take a case they might lose as they don’t want legal precedent set for weakening USERRA at all. IMO, if DOJ is going after this company, there is fire burning hot under all the smoke.
Ah … Most fed procecuters won’t take a case that they feel they can’t win for the Govt.
When DoJ hops onboard, it is game over most of the time.
They ran past full retard and went straight to potato…….
Then past potato and on to 0bama voter. ;o)
(Note to the admins: I’m typing this from my new internet connection at my new home – I recently moved and am now settling in. If you’re skeptical, you can email me at the address I gave and I will confirm that this post is indeed the real Semper Idem.)
So, confused here – did they fire him for serving or for paying him while he was on military leave and not attending his duties at the company?
I would suppose if it was the latter he should have taken his accrued vacation (civvie talk there) to continue his compensation?
Just not clear –
“Federal lawyers are seeking a dismissal of that lawsuit and claim Costello took “personal leave” during his military service to conduct company meetings. ”
That tells me that VTC is pissing against the wind on that claim.
VTC, here’s a napkin to wipe the shit you’re going to have to eat off of your stinking gob.
There is more to this than is indicated here. But if you’re the president and you’re making $36k a year it’s not much of a job…
I pay the man who makes my printing plates $37k a year and he has the least amount of responsibility in the department. We cover 75% of his health insurance as well.
Had a similar problem during Desert Shield. A driver was recalled to Active Duty. The company I worked for at the time not only let him go, they covered his salary. The problem, I had to explain to him, his lower military salary could not be collected at the same time because the IRS doesn’t like that, neither do the accountants. One or the other. He was pretty irate until his wife came in and I explained it to her. God, when he came back he looked like a cadaver. Lost 80 lbs, couldn’t drink enough water. I really detested that, shit, still makes my eyes water. Nobody should have to give that much. But so many do.
Wait, what does the IRS have to do with anything? There’s plenty of folks whose companies pay them when they’re deployed – my CDR in Iraq got his complete base pay from the city of Chicago while he got tax-free O3 pay overseas. Many more companies pay the difference between your salary and your military pay (unfortunately, mine does neither, so my deployment cost me some serious bank, but I knew that going in).
Uhm, the IRS cares not a whit how many sources of income one might have during any given year. Actually, they would have been delighted to collect the taxes on the civilian pay.
“…his lower military salary could not be collected at the same time…”
Are you saying that a military member on valid orders can somehow refuse payment from the US government, or that there is a mechanism for DFAS to avoid paying the person in your example? I have to call shenanigans. As others stated, there are no issues with drawing the two salaries at once.
Nope. When it comes to waiving either military pay or VA compensation to receive the other, no shenanigans are involved other than the explict requirements of Federal law. Specifically, we’re talking 10 USC 12316 and 38 USC 5304(c).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/12316
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/5304
And yes: procedures exist to forgo both types of payment to receive the other. It’s done automatically each month for retirees who do not qualify for dual compensation of VA disability and military retired pay. I’d have to look it up to be sure, but I believe the “breakpoint” for such dual receipt is a 50% VA disability rating.
This VA doc (MS Word format) gives a decent overview of how this works on the RC “side of the house” re: coordinating active duty/drill pay and VA disability compensation.
http://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin21/m21_1/mr/part3/subptv/ch04/M21-1MRIII_v_4_secC.doc
There seems to be a significant part of this story missing. Or wrong.
He’s disabled, yet still serving in the Navy Reserve? Maybe they meant that he can no longer pass a flight physical. Or something else entirely.
His first complaint was filed with the Dept of Labor? Not something that executives typically do. Was he in a labor union? And what kind of “compensation issues?” That covers a lot of territory.
DoJ hasn’t given us a lot of reason lately to be confident that they will get this right. Was there anything for them to even investigate? We may never know.
OWB: as odd as it may sound, a VA disability rating in and of itself is not a bar to service in the Reserve Components, provided the individual can (1) still pass fitness tests (modified as necessary by any physical profile), (2) meet physical retention standards during physical exams, and (3) meet the physical requirements of his/her military specialty. However, someone in the Reserve Components who also receives VA disability compensation cannot receive both that and military pay simultaneously. They have to waive one of them while serving in the Reserve Components in a pay status (e.g., attending AT, performing other active duty, or performing drills).
I believe services each set their own policies regarding what level of VA disability is allowable before one must be medically discharged from the RC. For the Army, I’ve been told by knowledgeable individuals that the “breakpoint” is 30% – individuals with that level of VA disability rating and below may continue to serve, but those with a 40% or higher rating require an administrative discharge or retirement. I haven’t personally researched that particular item, so I’m not able to say with certainty that is correct. However, based on the source I’m convinced it is correct (or at least was at the time).
Hondo: I think the 30% to which you are referring is the PEB rating, which is separate from a VA rating. This sheet seems to make it a little clearer: http://dma.wi.gov/dma/retirees/briefs/four_great_myths.pdf
Indeed – I serve with a guy who is way better off with his VA disability payment (earned via the Purple Heart route) on drill days than his drill pay – he only drills for retirement points. Awesome soldier, and we’re all much better for his sacrifice…
D: that may be the case – the message I received may have been garbled in transmission, or I may have misunderstood. Or the person who gave me the information – who should have been knowledgeable in the area if I correctly recall their duties at the time – may have gotten it wrong or confused the two.
In any case: having a compensable VA disability rating is NOT an automatic bar to further service in the military reserve components. Someone in such a status does, however, have to elect which (mil pay/allowances or VA compensation) to receive whenever they serve on active duty.
If they don’t, the Federal government will recoup the overpayment.
Not to quibble, but it’s not only “whenever they serve on active duty” – it extends to BA, AT and schools, etc., etc.
(I know you’re aware – you always keep an eye out for the reserve components in these discussions, so I know that was just short-hand – I just wanted to make sure this was in the record!)
Fair point – I should have said “any paid Federal military status” above; that includes IDT. (AT and schools are technically service on active duty but are not usually of sufficient duration to require a DD214.)
Not sure how that plays with state active duty for members of a state National Guard called up for or otherwise serving on non-Federal active duty. Never had any dealings with someone in that situation.
Boom – even when I’m schooling him, he STILL schools me…
It applies, or used to apply, the same way to State orders as all of them are classified as “active duty.” The primary difference is the Title authorizing the activation: Title 10 is Federal, Title 32 is state.
3E9: thanks for the info. My RC service was all Federal (USAR), so I never dealt directly with NG state active duty issues/policy quirks.
Not doubting that, Hondo, but seriously, a pilot? Flight physical standards are well above those for the rest of us, even if those for the Navy are different from the Air Force.
I remember the hoops that were jumped through to retain a young bandsman who lost a foot rescuing folks from an auto accident while TDY some years ago.
And I’m not saying that there aren’t plenty of spots where non-deployable folks could not serve. My personal history is in the ANG, where we all (at least in flying units) had to be physically able to deploy at all times. We had few to none “light duty” positions.
OWB: true.
However, the VA will often grant people a disability rating for relatively minor things such as tinnitus. Not sure, but some of those conditions might not be disqualifying for flight duty, particularly if rated at 0% – and especially if the individual is already a rated pilot. I’ve heard anecdotally that that is indeed the case for certain medical conditions for personnel still on active duty, but I don’t know with certainty that’s the case. Some of our aviators may be able to shed a bit of light here.
Further, the article says that the guy is a Naval Reserve Captain with “previous experience as a F/-18 pilot” (my emphasis). What the article doesn’t seem to do is clearly call him a current USNR pilot. He may no longer be medically qualified to fly – but still be in the USNR and now serving in a different capacity due to a medical issue for which the VA has rated him as having a service-connected disability. I’ve known of folks who left active duty and changed career fields in the Reserve Components. This guy may well have done that for all we know.
Not defending the guy per se, just pointing out possibilities. I have no idea about the specifics of the case.
Yep. We may appear to not be agreeing, but I think that we are. That article was either deliberately written to mislead, or was just poorly written.
Never been on flight status myself, but ran with a bunch of folks who were. Ongoing flight physicals are very little different from initial requirements. An aging guy can pass wearing glasses and some minimal amount of hearing loss, for instance, but the standard is MUCH higher for flight crew than the rest of us. Typically, the number of slots for non-flying pilots are very few in the ANG. A pilot (and pretty much all the rest of the crew) who has enough age to flunk a physical probably also has enough rank to make it impossible to transfer to another career field.
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I assisted several Sailors over the years with similar issues.
When DoJ gets involved at this level it is becuase the employer has refused to re-hire and re-fused a lawful order to re-hire. The dance with DoJ is not a slow sexy hip grinding affair …it is a fast paced Latin filled orgy of foot moves that the employer will not be able to keep up with. So it is game on. Meaning this IS a no-brainer case.
Vet wins … employer does not.
The closest experience I have with this kind of thing is on the front end. My employer wanted a nearly daily report on who was expected to be activated during Desert Storm. Now, the inquiry may not have been completely legal, but given that the company lost over half it’s employees when a NG unit was sent to Korea, we all understood.
Several of us had to just tell them that we would be going, we just didn’t have a date yet. Several of us were already on orders, just able to report to both jobs on different days of the week or different hours of the day. It was particularly dicey for those of us with knowledge of classified details.
Court document filed by Costello. Interesting read.
I am an employee for this company (VTC) Renton, WA. They treat employees so badly. Management literally has told employees that they are not in management, never will be! They act like they are better then others! There are favorites who can work from home and do no wrong while others get in trouble for the smallest things! A manager even asked an employee if she had a learning disability, because she should know this by now! Their focal’s either want to be best friends with everyone or just put you down in front of others! So many people quit because of the management! Sad Boeing doesn’t see how their reputation is diminishing to their own! Managers have told other peoples that others were “dumb blondes”. Worst company ever, looking for new job actively!