Shots Fired: Digging the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act Out of the Trenches of Arbitration
Lisa Limb*
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) was enacted to protect servicemembers from discrimination by civilian employers and to provide servicemembers with reemployment rights. Recent circuit court decisions, however, have maimed these protections by ruling that mandatory arbitration is permissible under USERRA. This Note argues that such rulings conflict with USERRA’s plain language, statutory structure, and purpose. Ultimately, in light of strong public policy considerations, this Note contends that mandatory arbitration should not be permissible under USERRA and proposes that Congress amend the Act to explicitly prohibit arbitration.
*J.D. Candidate, May 2019, University of Michigan Law School. I am indebted to my excellent Notes Editors, Laura Beth Cohen and Aviv Halpern, and to the rest of the Volume 117 Notes Office for their diligent and thoughtful editing. I would also like to thank my friends for their constant support and encouragement. This Note is dedicated to our servicemembers, our veterans, and their families: thank you for your service to our country.
