Veterans Claim Federal Government Discriminates Against Them

Last year, over 1,500 returning troops claimed they were denied jobs or fired because of their military service obligations. In almost one in five of these cases, the culprit was the federal government, The Washington Post discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request. And of all federal agencies, the Defense Department was the worst.

The federal government is the largest employer of veterans, and over one fourth of its employees have at one point worn a uniform. President Obama has also been vocal about the importance of hiring returning soldiers, and has proposed a Veterans Jobs Corps that would enable communities to more easily employ veterans as cops and firefighters.