Army reservist on active duty demoted from dean to gym teacher by NC county, feds say
A 26-year member of the U.S. Army Reserve went on active duty for five weeks only to return to North Carolina to find his job as dean at a middle school was gone and he was demoted to a gym teacher, the Department of Justice says in a lawsuit against the Warren County Board of Education.
Dwayne Coffer, a command sergeant major, was dean of students for Warren County Middle School, about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh, according to the lawsuit. He was called up for five weeks of active duty service in July 2017, and when he returned he found the school district eliminated his job and made him a gym teacher at another school.
“The freedoms we enjoy as Americans are dependent on the selfless duties performed by members of our Armed Forces,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in a press release. “When our Country calls service members to duty, its laws, enforced by the Department of Justice, protect their civilian jobs.”
Coffer has been with the Army Reserves for 26 years, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Raleigh this week. He is part of the Lynchburg, Virginia-based 2nd Battalion, 317th Regiment, the lawsuit says.
“Members of the Army Reserve, like Sergeant Major Dwayne Coffer, are often called away from their civilian jobs in order to provide the security upon which our nation depends. They should not have to fear losing their jobs when they answer that call,” Robert J. Higdon Jr., U.S. attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina, said in the release.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act is meant to protect members of the military from losing their jobs or getting demoted when they are called up for active duty, according to the DOJ.
The lawsuit says: “Coffer has not been a PE Teacher for fifteen years and began his employment with Warren County as an Assistant Principal thirteen years ago. He has never worked as a PE Teacher for Warren County.“
“A PE Teacher position is not equivalent to an administrator position. A PE Teacher position does not have the authority to make in-school suspensions, respond to parent calls for an administrator, represent the school at an accreditation meeting, or engage in decision making,” the lawsuit argues.
Warren County never promoted Coffer back to an administrator position or gave him credit for his retirement plan, the lawsuit says.
This is the second time the DOJ has sued the school board in Warren County. “In 2012, the United States Department of Justice sued Warren County when it failed to renew the employment contract of CSM Coffer following a different period of military service,” the DOJ said. The school district settled that lawsuit.
According to a story from the Henderson Daily Dispatch and published in Task & Purpose: “While speaking with the Dispatch Thursday, Lewis Thompson, the school board’s attorney, said he wouldn’t have any comment because he hasn’t seen the complaint yet.”
The new federal lawsuit wants Coffer to be reinstated to a school administration job and to receive back pay and other damages.
This story was originally published April 12, 2019 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Army reservist on active duty demoted from dean to gym teacher by NC county, feds say."
