Jeffrey Church v. City of Reno

memorandum;

The district court correctly dismissed Jeffrey Church’s First Amended Complaint, which alleged a hostile work environment claim under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. § 4311 (a). Church’s action is barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion.

In 2003, Church filed suit against the City of Reno, alleging that the City tolerated a hostile work environment that resulted in Church’s constructive discharge under Nevada law. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the City, and we affirmed. Church v. Berry, 275 Fed.Appx. 678 (9th Cir.2008) (unpublished). At the time, no precedent precluded Church from asserting a hostile work environment claim under USERRA. In fact, in an earlier appeal involving Church, we expressly declined to resolve whether such a claim could be asserted under USERRA. Church v. City of Reno, 168 F.3d 498 , 1999 WL 65205 , at *1 (9th Cir.1999) (unpublished). And other circuits had recognized the possibility that hostile work environment claims could be brought under USERRA. See Miller v. City of Indianapolis, 281 F.3d 648, 652-53 (7th Cir.2002); Yates v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 145…