Video: Woman files lawsuit after being fired for her military service

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SEATTLE – Kelly Hansen of Kirkland has served for many years as a National Guard chaplain. But now she says it has cost her her job as a chaplain at Children's Hospital in Seattle.

She was required to drill for a weekend and take time off work.

"The first day she came back to work after her drill weekend she was called into her supervisor's office and terminated," said James Beck, her lawyer.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Seattle Federal Court, Hansen claims she was fired because Children's Hospital knew that her unit was on alert and she would be leaving for a 14-month deployment to Iraq.

State and federal law require businesses to hold jobs for employees serving the Guard and Reserves, and those that don’t can face stiff penalties.

"I'm very happy and I hope that no military man ever has to go through what I went through again," said Air Force Reservist Jerry Delay of Federal Way who won a more-than-half-million dollar judgment against his former employer. Ace Heating falsified Delay's employment records before firing him after he returned from a tour of duty.

"Why should any veteran who served their country have to come home and find a job all over again?" asked Mike Gervais, Marine veteran.

Vets at VFW Post 9430 said they never expected such claims against a local institution such as Children's Hospital.

"It does surprise me because I would have thought that they would have been vet friendly," said Robert Swartley, Air Force veteran.

Chaplain Hansen's lawyer says as the war wears on, his office is seeing more of these types of complaints.

Children's Hospital did not comment, but is expected to say that its policy forbids discrimination against vets.

A spokesperson said the hospital hasn't seen the lawsuit yet.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee is exploring whether more legislation is needed to protect veterans' employment rights.