Court holds Shelbyville Hospital wasn't obligated to re-hire returning veteran

The federal government has passed a statute that requires employers to re-hire service men and women who are called up to active duty.  An orthopedic surgeon who worked for the Shelbyville Hospital Corporation under a one-year contract attempted to avail himself of that right.  The Hospital refused to re-hire him and he sued.  The Sixth Circuit rejected his lawsuit, holding that since he was an at-will employee who had not desired permanent employment originally and whose employment with the hospital was "brief"  he could not reasonably have expected to regain employment with the hospital.  The Court concluded that the employer offered "strong, uncontroverted evidence that it would have terminated Slusher's employment notwithstanding his military service,"  thereby apparently subverting the intent of the federal statute.