Reservist sues LA County over leave for service

AP

A military reservist filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Los Angeles County, claiming officials do not give employees who are reservists all the leave that state law requires they be granted to complete their service.

Anthony Colannino, a deputy district attorney, alleges in the lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court that he did not get all the compensation he was entitled to last year because of the way the county calculates military leave.

"We are technically in a time of war, and I think this is a tremendous chilling effect for people to volunteer to serve," Colannino’s lawyer, Jay M. Coggan, told the Daily Journal.

Coggan said he believes his client, a 22-year county prosecutor, could be one of thousands in a class of current and former county employees who have lost pay.

Under the state’s Military and Veterans Code, county employees are entitled to compensation for 30 days of active military duty as well as extra time when the governor declares an emergency.

Colannino said he was unfairly docked 11 days’ pay last year for time he spent working as a judge advocate in the California State Military Reserve.

Colannino said he did not get all the compensation he was entitled to because the county included nonworking days in calculating his allotted military leave. He said he was deducted leave time although he was serving over a weekend and holiday.

He claims that the county’s policies amount to discrimination against military reservists, and is seeking $24,000 in damages.

A phone message left by The Associated Press Wednesday for Assistant County Counsel Steve Carnevale seeking comment was not immediately returned