Helping vets with ‘bad paper’

State human rights commission aims to help those discharged for behavioral, disciplinary reasons

“Veterans with bad paper often experience widespread discrimination in securing employment, loans and insurance.” Steve Kennedy, Connecticut chapter of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

HARTFORD — The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities has joined the effort to help veterans with lessthan-honorable discharge papers.

“Both the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act and federal law prohibit private employers from discriminating against job applicants with respect to race, sexual orientation, and disabilities,” CHRO Deputy Director Cheryl Sharp said in a statement.

“CHRO’s new guidance clarifies that employers should afford individualized consideration to all job applicants, regardless of their military discharge status. Employers should consider the nature of an applicant’s offense, how long ago the offense occurred, and whether it has any bearing on the duties relevant to the job in question,” she wrote.

Advocates who have been helping veterans said some private employers reject any applicant with a less-than-honorable discharge, also known as “bad paper.”

Research done by student lawyers at the Veterans Legal

Services Clinic at Yale Law School have found that behavior exhibited by veterans while in the service often is tied to undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.

Efforts by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and legal action have benefited some veterans in this situation, with their discharge papers being upgraded.

A 2017 report by the veterans group Protect Our Defenders found that black service members are twice as likely as white service members to be the target of disciplinary action.

Dianne Daniels, president of the NAACP Norwich branch, said in a statement that “these disparities create challenges similar to those faced by African Americans in the civilian criminal justice system.”

The report also found that LGBT service members have received “bad paper” at a disproportionately high rate due to explicitly discriminatory policies both before and during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era.

Additionally, disabled service members often receive derogatory discharges for misconduct that resulted directly from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“A veteran’s discharge status affects them for the rest of their life. Veterans with bad paper often experience widespread discrimination in securing employment, loans and insurance,” said Steve Kennedy, a team leader for the Connecticut Chapter of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “I am hopeful that CHRO’s guidance will help these veterans reintegrate into their home communities.”

Several speakers addressed the issue in a press conference at the CHRO offices Thursday.

IAVA, which is aimed at post-9/11 veterans, has been described as the modernday veterans hall for the current generation, with over 400,000 members worldwide.

The Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School represents IAVA-CT in its advocacy for veterans with “bad paper.”