On June 19, 2008, the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity held a hearing addressing, among other legislation, the recently introduced Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act (H.R. 6225). Offered by Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) on June 10, 2008, the bill would require courts to grant injunctive relief, when appropriate, to Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) claimants.

Testifying in favor of the bill were Kerry Baker on behalf of the Disabled American Veterans, Joseph C. Sharpe, Jr. on behalf of The American Legion, Richard Daley on behalf of Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Rick Weidman on behalf of Vietnam Veterans of America. 

The Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act (H.R. 6225), if passed, would amend USERRA by changing the word “may” to “shall” in Section 4323(3) of Title 38. This would require courts to grant injunctive relief in appropriate circumstances.

The bill is a response to a 2005 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Bedrossian v. Northwestern Mem’l Hosp., 409 F.3d 840 (7th Cir. 2005)), which found that an employee bringing a USERRA claim needed to show irreparable harm to obtain an injunction against termination. Under the proposed legislation, the claimant would still need to demonstrate his or her entitlement to equitable relief in the form of an injunction; however, once the claimant has established that an injunction is appropriate, the court would be required to grant the injunction.