FedEx Can’t Trim Returning Air Force Pilot’s Bonus

Federal Express improperly awarded a lower bonus under a collective bargaining agreement to a pilot who missed work time for military duty, a federal appeals court in California ruled.

The Nov. 2 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addresses a novel question of the law governing the rights of military members returning to work from active duty. Unlike most cases brought under federal military leave law, the ruling concerns the employment benefits a returning service member is entitled to rather than the law’s protection of his or her job while away from work.

The court ...