Anderson, an honorably discharged veteran, worked for the City of Minneapolis and had advanced to Accountant II before taking an unpaid leave in 1979 to seek disability status under the Disability Act. He received a disability allowance until late 1982, when the retirement board advised the city that he was no longer disabled and could return to work. In 1983 the city reemployed him as an Account Clerk I and required him to sign a form labeled a voluntary demotion in order to preserve his seniority. In 1991 Anderson petitioned for relief, alleging that the city demoted him without notice of his rights under the Veterans Preference Act.
Issue
Whether a veteran who returns to work after receiving a disability allowance under Minn. Stat. § 422A.18 retains employee status for purposes of the Veterans Preference Act, and whether the city's use of a demotion form to place him in a lower position constituted a removal requiring VPA notice and a hearing.
Rule
A veteran receiving a disability allowance under Minn. Stat. § 422A.18 retains employee status for purposes of the Veterans Preference Act when certified fit to return within the statutory period. Because the VPA supersedes contrary laws unless a later act expressly excludes or modifies it, a demotion on return to work is a removal requiring notice and a hearing unless the VPA has been expressly excepted.
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Elias Romero, an honorably discharged veteran, worked for the City of Duluth as a Senior Payroll Analyst. He later began receiving a municipal disability allowance under a statute stating that if he is medically certified fit within four years, the department head shall reemploy him at a salary no lower than his allowance. When cleared to return, the city placed him in a lower-ranked clerk position without notice or a hearing, arguing that disability status ended his employment relationship.
Is Elias most likely entitled to Veterans Preference Act protections when challenging the lower placement?
Explanation. The majority held that where the governing disability statute gives the veteran a right to be reemployed within a fixed period after certification of fitness, the disability period resembles a leave of absence rather than a total termination of employment. That retained employment status is sufficient for VPA purposes. A lower placement on return is therefore a demotion/removal requiring notice and a hearing unless the VPA has been expressly displaced.