Clerk's office is sued over job

A reservist should return to her former position, the Justice Department says.

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published October 16, 2007

TAMPA - The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the Hillsborough county clerk, saying the clerk's office denied an Army reservist the same job and pay she had before she left for active duty.

The department's Civil Rights Division filed a federal complaint Friday against Hillsborough County Clerk Pat Frank on behalf of Tracey Y. Marshall, a first sergeant in the Army Reserve. The suit claims the clerk's office demoted Marshall after she returned from active duty and began fighting for her old job.

"We have done nothing to violate the law," Frank said Monday through a spokeswoman. "We respect our men and women in the armed forces and the rights they have upon their return to private life."

An attorney for the clerk's office was out of town and not available to answer questions about Marshall's work history or pay, a spokeswoman said.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ensures that reservists are reinstated with the seniority, status and pay they would have obtained had they remained continuously employed by their civilian employer.

"This nation values the sacrifices made by its military reservists. No service member should be disadvantaged in the workplace for answering a call to duty," said Rena J. Comisac, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, in a news release.

Neither Marshall nor her attorneys could be reached for comment Monday.

Court documents say that Marshall has worked full time for the Hillsborough clerk's office since 1992. The same year, she joined the Army Reserve and has risen to the rank of first sergeant.

Court papers say Marshall was a senior court clerk, supervising the felony department when she was activated from Aug. 22, 2005, to Oct. 16, 2005.

A week after she returned, Marshall was told she wouldn't be reinstated to her old job because the person who replaced her had performed well, the complaint said.

She was reassigned to a different department and was told she had expertise needed to operate a new computer system being installed there, the complaint said.

She was later moved to the traffic department at lower pay because she took action to retain her previous job, Justice Department officials said.

Marshall wants a judge to order the Hillsborough clerk to reinstate her to her pre-military service position and pay her lost wages.

Frank was elected clerk of the circuit court in 2004. She was elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in 1998 and 2002. She has also been a School Board member and longtime state legislator.

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this story. Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.

[Last modified October 16, 2007, 07:17:14]