A mechanic in Connecticut who claims to have lost his job once he decided to joined the Marine Reserves is expected to be stuck dealing with a long road ahead, especially when it comes down to his case about wanting to get his job back. The mechanic, Derek Laaser, who is only 19 years of age, left his hometown to go off to basic training for the Marine Reserves in Parris Island. However, he says because of this, the company he worked for, Chevrolet of Milford, fired him. Laaser claims that once he told his boss that he needed to take off for training one weekend per month, he was let go from his position. An attorney for Laaser claims that the boss violated Laaser’s rights, especially since there is a federal law in place that employees cannot be discriminated against due to their presence in the military service, whether it is present or not.

However, it is expected that the attorney for Laaser may have a hard time trying to prove that his client was, in fact, fired because of his participation in military service. Laaser says that he went to his superiors, letting them know that he had planned to join the Marine Corps Reserves several months ago, at some point during the month of December, which was right around the time that he found out he was accepted into the Marine Corps Reserves. There is an argument that he might not have given the company enough time but at the same time, there is not a specific rule set into place about how much time an individual must give when informing superiors of their plans to join such military services.

It is most important for Laaser and his attorney to prove that it was the military service that was generally the reason for him being fired. Laaser received a letter from his former boss in the beginning of March, stating that he chose to leave their company in order to start a career with the military, which means he may have a tough time proving his case. Laaser, who has gone through a long mechanic training process and was going to receive his GM certification in the coming months, claims to have received the letter after his boss said he needed to work on the weekends, which is something that Laaser  had no problem with. In fact, he agreed to work on three weekends out of the month, only unable to work one weekend each month because of his military service. The letter received will play an important role when it comes down to evidence on whether or not he was forced from his position or voluntarily left the position.

In the meantime, the attorney for Laaser, David Slossberg, says he knows that his client gave his employer enough notice about joining the military service, stating that his client gave notice in December and was not fired from his position until nearly four months had passed.