I am more of a hippie type, than a soldier, but this is the kind of case that burns my ass (no pun intended). I mean, we need a military; and even when our politicians get it wrong, these guys are just following orders, like they're supposed to. So when the military brass doesn't consider their well- being, and they come back from war with a disability, we have a responsibility to take care of them. This soldier in the Reserves, Capt. Leroy Torres, in 2007, went away for a year to Iraq, where there was a huge burn pit, next to his camp, from which came a constant billowing of toxic smoke. When he returned, he had lung problems, which did not allow him to perform his old job, with the Texas State Police. In 1994, a federal law had been passed to help protect veterans, who come home, unable to do their old jobs. They are supposed to be offered work that they can do, and Torres gave the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) a list of desk assignments that he could handle. Instead, they essentially canned him. When his case got to Texas court, the State-- good ol' Texas-- was claiming that the reason they didn't have to pay his claim was not because he didn't have an illness, directly attributable to his military service, and not because there wasn't a federal law covering this, but because the federal government didn't have the right to compel Texas courts. Of course, since this law only covers military, and states don't need their own armies, because of our Federal armed forces, this law was supposed to be an exceptional case, and the initial trial judge did side with Torres. But Texas, of course, appealed, and the Texas appellate court, sided with the State, leaving Torres S.O.L. Ill, and unemployed-- and Texas denied his disability, too. But today, Tuesday, 3/29, the Supreme Court is hearing this case-- just to decide whether Torres has the right to sue the State, as the federal law had intended, or whether the State retains its Sovereign Immunity. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ex...amp/war-burn-pit-victims-lawsuit-16757524.php [Snip] AUSTIN — When Le Roy Torres returned home from his yearlong deployment to Iraq as a captain in the Army Reserve, the South Texas native wanted to return to the job he had set aside to fulfill his military commitment. It wasn't an unusual desire given that federal law since World War II has given returning GIs the right to resume their civilian jobs. The law also has been modified over the years to accommodate veterans who've come back from the front with the scars of battle, allowing them to return to work in a capacity suitable to their post-service condition. But for Torres, it was more complicated. Before his deployment, he had been a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety. And the injuries he suffered were not from bombs or bullets. More likely, he would argue, they were from around-the-clock exposure to what have become known as "toxic burn pits." What are burn pits? Burn pits are where spent munitions, discarded vehicle parts, everyday trash, medical waste and even amputated body parts were bathed in jet fuel, set ablaze and seldom — if ever — extinguished. Torres returned home with chronic headaches and debilitating breathing disorders that would later be diagnosed as constrictive bronchiolitis and toxic encephalopathy, which in layman's terms is a toxic brain injury. In short, he wanted a desk job since he was no longer up to the physical demands of uniformed police work. Since the effects of burn pit exposure were not recognized as a service-related disability, reinstatement would have meant sending a weakened Torres back into the field as a trooper. That decision would become part of a protracted multifront civilian-world battle that Torres and his wife, Rosie, began waging from their kitchen table in the Coastal Bend community of Robstown. The fight has since been instrumental in forcing action in the Legislature, in Congress and even an indirect mention in Tuesday's State of the Union address by President Joe Biden. This month, the clash between Torres and the Texas Department of Public Safety will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the decision the justices render will have far-reaching effects for veterans nationwide who had worked in state government before their military service and seek to regain their former jobs. Burn pits and the legal battle Torres' court battle weaves a thread between labor rights, the federal War Powers Act and Texas' right under the doctrine of sovereign immunity not to be sued by one of its citizens. In their brief filed with the high court, which is scheduled to hear the case March 29, Torres' lawyers argue that the law protecting veterans' re-employment rights is derived from the War Powers Act. Therefore, if a state entity, such as DPS, rejects a veteran's efforts to gain re-employment, the federal law should trump the state's sovereign immunity from lawsuits. [End] https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-burn-pit-veteran-wrongful-termination-case The state countered his claims and argued in court that Texas had sovereign immunity from lawsuits like Torres'. The judge presiding over the original complaint denied the state’s motion, but it was upheld by the Texas Court of Appeals, stating that USERRA was unconstitutional due to how it authorizes suits filed against individual states. "Permitting state employers to discriminate against soldiers for their military service will materially interfere with the ability of the United States to provide for the national defense," a brief file by Torres’ legal team read. "It will also harm thousands of veterans and service members, leaving them without a remedy when their state employers discriminate against them on the basis of their service." [End] https://lawandcrime.com/veterans/sc...due-to-lung-injuries-from-iraq-war-burn-pits/ [Snip] After Torres was forced to resign, he sued TDPS in state court for discrimination based on his military service and asked for more than $5 million in damages. Torres’s claim was based on the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of military service. USERRA has been on the books since 1994, when it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the wake of the Persian Gulf War. USERRA’s sponsor, then-Senator Jay Rockefeller (D), said the law was enacted “to compensate for the disruption of careers and the financial setback that military service meant for many veterans.” In state court, TDPS argued that it had sovereign immunity from Torres’s lawsuit and moved to dismiss the case. After a hearing, the trial court sided with Torres. On appeal, though, TDPS prevailed. A state appellate court dismissed the lawsuit by holding that USERRA could not constitutionally authorize lawsuits against states. The appellate court said Congress lacked any power to abrogate state sovereign immunity pursuant to its War Powers. The Supreme Court of Texas refused to intervene, leaving the appellate court’s dismissal in place. Torres next appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which will now consider the limits of sovereign immunity in such matters. In his petition to SCOTUS, Torres argues that unless the justices step in to overturn the Texas court’s dismissal, “USERRA’s protections will die by a thousand cuts” and that servicemembers who work for state governments will suffer, uncertain whether they can rely on USERRA’s protections.” [End] An interesting side note to all this, is that, in the past, now President Joe Biden had said that he believed that these "burn pits," from the Iraq War, are what led to the cancer that claimed the life of his son, Bo.
Just curious to know if other members of his unit also wound up with this illness?? Was he a smoker??
Maybe I am not understanding something here, but why is it the employers responsibility to bear the burden of carrying someone who will never be able to perform the job they were hired to do indefinitely? Seems some type of federal disability for soldiers wounded in combat would make more sense. Hell give him (or any soldier) 100k a year for life, I'll pay a little more taxes for that. Granted the state of Texas has the money to pay the guy, but what if it was a small construction company? Who gets fired so this guy can take their desk job?
Yes, the federal government has ultimately come along to acknowledge the problem, and one of the articles I Snipped, did have something about that, but I didn't copy it, because I'd taken so much else. It might be in the link for military, I am about to post (with a snip, about something else: the way he was treated, by the State-- good ol' Texas!). But I'll look through them again, for you, unless you want to, yourself. It definitely was not the FOX NEWS link, I know that much.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mi...-pits-now-supreme-court-may-take-his.html/amp Some details that I'd not gotten into the OP. [Snip] Torres said he requested an administrative position and provided a list of tasks he could still do but instead was encouraged to resign. He says he was told he had to do so in order to apply for disability retirement. The state then rejected his disability retirement application. The Texas attorney general's office has said in court documents that Torres was offered an administrative position but was placed on leave because he had missed too much work as a result of his illness. Torres sued the state, arguing that it was required to make accommodations for his service-connected disability. He sought more than $1 million in lost wages and retirement pay. Texas argued that the case should be dismissed because all states have sovereign immunity against private damage suits over a federal law, unless Congress specifically waives its immunity. [End] Good ol' Texas! https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ex...amp/war-burn-pit-victims-lawsuit-16757524.php [Snip] Despite that movement in Washington, state government workers across the nation have faced hurdles when filing lawsuits seeking monetary damages even though USERRA applies to private employers and government agencies. Texas and other states have contended they have sovereign immunity from being sued under the federal law. In making that claim, Attorney General Ken Paxton has also argued that the Legislature passed laws allowing veterans to pursue wrongful termination claims. A brief filed by Paxton with the Texas Supreme Court stated that the Legislature “has provided remedies that Torres could have used, but he is instead attempting to take advantage of federal remedies” state lawmakers did not intend to allow in court. State law caps damages at $300,000. Torres had sought more than $1 million for lost wages and retirement benefits. [End] https://lawandcrime.com/veterans/sc...due-to-lung-injuries-from-iraq-war-burn-pits/ This was surprising, to read, further on into the Law website. Despite the story I mentioned about Bo Biden, and one of the sites mentioning that Biden had alluded to this case, in his State of the Union speech-- unless they later changed their minds, which I guess is possible-- the Biden Administration was not behind this soldier's Supreme Court route. [Snip] The Biden administration also weighed in on the case by urging the justices not to hear the case. The federal government argued that USERRA is constitutional — but also that USERRA plaintiffs like Torres “retain other mechanisms to obtain relief against state employers.” [End] See the previous Snip. The Texas AG seems to be talking about the same other routes, for Torres, & others like him. A difference, though, is that the alternative Texas law, would cap damages at just $300 k for lost wages and retirement benefits-- not all that much, for a still young man. Torres wants to sue the State directly, for $1 million.
I'm new to this case, too. So I'm not familiar with the specifics of that 1994 legislation. There may be a further link to more detail, in the Law and Crime article, if you want to give that a check. Otherwise, I'll look into it, but first, I already have a different info request, ahead of you
Apologies, I assumed someone here would know. I wasn't asking you specifically to find out anything. It seems the actual case is more to do with can he actually sue.
This is what I've found, so far, from the military link, though it's not what I'd seen before, which had seemed more detailed. I did not see it on the Law and Crime site, either-- so I'm parking down the options. I don't think anything mentions if he smoked, but with this illness-- if you just read the stuff I posted, in the OP-- it seemed clear that this was not a case in which there was any doubt, that it was specifically the toxins burned in this 24 hr. a day, jet-fuel fire, which burned everything from ammunition to equipment, to medical waste and body parts. [Snip] More than 208,000 service members and veterans have enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, an accounting of those who have served in the Middle East since 1990 and have concerns about deployment-related health. [end] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mi...-pits-now-supreme-court-may-take-his.html/amp
Yes, that's all the SCOTUS is weighing in on, but a couple of sources have said how big a difference this would make, in allowing the deserving veterans, to actually receive due compensation. Both the State of Texas & the Biden Administration (at least initially) were advocating Torres take some other State routes, available to him; but that Texas legislation only allows him a max of $300K, total, for lost wages and retirement benefits. If it was me, I would feel that this relatively paltry sum, was my getting the shaft.
One of the articles, said he even had trouble getting care from the VA, though I'm not sure if it was just because of very long wait times. This all started back in 2008, before the more recent push to straighten out the VA's ship. But this ex- soldier/cop, and his wife, sound like real go- getters, so I'm sure they tried pushing on every available door. They even began a charity organization, (to advocate?) for others, experiencing the same difficulties. I also read that they were guests on the first episode of Jon Stewart's-- formerly of The Daily Show, and known for his advocacy for 9-11, first responders-- new program.
When I was in the military I too was subjected to the fumes from the burning of the remains of the unit after they got through their daily mortar fire practice. I believe they referred to it as burning the increments or something that sounded similar to that? It was back in the 1960's.
I remain skeptical. I am not a stranger to these things, and understand well the difficulty in playing with federal agency policy etc. I have a hard time believing in the altruism here if any in fact exists. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but the story seems to be punctuated with factual gaps that don't seem to add up to the whole that the OP story is telling.
Not to diminish that, but as I understand it, the scale of the fires in Iraq were way beyond anything seen before. One of the links describes the huge size of the pit, and says it was in use almost unceasingly. We're the drills you are talking about done stateside, or at a European base? Or did you actually see any action in Vietnam? Actually, one Representative who helped with this Joachim Castro, said that when he looked at the data, his thought was that it was like "Agent Orange," from back in your day. BTW, thanks for your service.
The Constitutional issue is this: "Whether Congress, in exercising its powers to raise and support Armies and provide and maintain a Navy, may authorize private damages suits against state employers in state court based on violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq." Facts of the case: The petitioner Le Roy Torres served in the U.S. Army and is a former state trooper in Texas. While deployed, Torres sustained lung damage. Upon his honorable discharge, Torres sought employment with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) but requested to be placed in a different position other than as a state trooper, as his lung damage precluded him from performing all of his duties. DPS declined the request and offered him a temporary position as a state trooper, stating that if he did not report to duty, his employment would be terminated. Torres resigned. Later, he sued DPS in state court for violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by not accommodating him. DPS moved to dismiss the case, citing sovereign immunity from USERRA lawsuits. The trial court denied the motion. On appeal, the Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals granted DPS' motion. Torres appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Click here to learn more about the case's background. https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1447716/download https://ballotpedia.org/Torres_v._Texas_Department_of_Public_Safety
Thanks for the assist, on recapping more of those details. One part I'm curious about, but haven't had time to research further, is the Biden connection. On MSNBC, they mentioned that Biden had blamed these burn pits, for the cancer that got his son, Bo. They also mentioned that Biden had alluded to this case, during his State of the Union Address; so the inference they were encouraging, seemed clearly to be that Biden would be in Le Roy's corner, maybe even somehow helping to get his case heard, since it had been such a longshot. But then, on my "Law," site source, I read that the Court had asked the Biden Admin. for their view on the case, and-- while I don't know how much input Pres. Biden had in it, though I would think that he'd at least heard of the issue-- they were against the SCOTUS hearing it. Their explanation sounds reasonable-- that there were other avenues available to Torres-- but if that is a reference to the other path open in Texas, that limits lost pay and retirement compensation, for this man who should be a good ways from retirement (but who knows how this will affect his lifespan), to just $300 K, then, all things considered, this seems to add insult to injury, with its cheapness. And Texas had, somehow, denied Torres' Disability claim! It just makes me feel bad, for the guy who sounds like he's been a good citizen, made sacrifices for the "greater good," of the country, and then gets screwed over by the "System." It seems shameful, to me, to not take responsibility for those damaged, specifically by our own military's negligence. And that MSNBC would be aiding that, for partisan reasons-- if that had been their intent, rather than their just having had incompetent researching of the issue-- leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth, from it despicable nature. I'd like to find out that the Biden Admin. actually reversed course here, after the article I'd read, had already been published (and which, then, they would not have updated). But that kind of seems like wishful thinking.
It makes me feel bad too. The guy had a reasonable request in my opinion and DPS, for one reason or another, decided not to honor that request. That being said, whatever ruling SCOTUS makes will send shock waves across party lines.
"and Torres gave the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) a list of desk assignments that he could handle. Instead, they essentially canned him." if he could do a desk job they should have let him, why is Texas fighting this
