DOJ sues Google over alleged reduced duties after Army leave

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Google, alleging the company did not return a former employee to a similar position after he came back from a year-long assignment in the U.S. Army's Cyber Command. Law360 reported that the case was filed in Manhattan federal court.

The lawsuit concerns the employee's work at Google after his military service; the allegation is not a court finding that Google violated the law. Law360 described the Justice Department's claim as discrimination based on Google's failure to reinstate the employee to a comparable role.

The excerpt does not identify the employee or specify what his former and subsequent duties were. It also does not state what position he requested or how Google addressed his return. The reported military assignment lasted a year and was with the U.S. Army's Cyber Command unit, according to Law360.

Headlines from The Straits Times, Reuters and CNA also describe the suit as concerning Google's failure to provide a new or comparable job following military leave or deployment. The New York Post headline identifies the employee as an Army reservist and calls the lawsuit rare; those details are not elaborated in the Law360 excerpt.

The accounts characterize the post-service job issue in slightly different terms: the Justice Department's claim, as summarized by Law360, concerns reinstatement to a similar role, while the headlines refer to a new job, an old job, or a comparable position. Each presents the matter as an allegation in a lawsuit, rather than a determination of liability.

Law360's excerpt identifies the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in connection with the case. It does not give a case number, identify a judge, describe a response from Google, or state what the Justice Department is seeking from the court.

The filing places the dispute over the employee's return to work before a federal court. The reported account gives no further procedural details or outcome, so the next substantive development would depend on the court proceedings and any positions the parties present there.