BUCKEYE, AZ (AZFamily) — A Valley combat veteran claims he was wrongfully terminated and discriminated against for wanting to bring his service dog to work.
He was let go by the city of Buckeye less than a month after a glowing performance review.
For Zack Thompson, man’s best friend is an understatement when it comes to his service dog, Han.
The veteran says he served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan until he was medically discharged in 2016.
“My job as a combat engineer was to find IEDs, improvised explosive devices. I was blown up multiple times. I had gotten 11 concussions while I was in the Army,” said Thompson.
The husband and father now lives with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
Han helps him with everything every day.
In January 2023, he started working for the city of Buckeye.
“I honestly thought that was going to be where I ended my career. I loved it. I loved who I worked for. I loved who I worked with. I got to work for the city I live in. My kids go to school here. I got to make an impact on my community and that’s very important to me,” said Thompson.
Just days before his one-year mark, he was fired.
The termination letter cites “the unsuccessful completion of his probationary period.”
“Which was super disappointing. It came out of nowhere. I had never had any kind of issues or altercations. I’ve always had really glowing reviews,” he said.
Thompson’s most recent performance evaluation before he was let go showed that he was doing “excellent” in all areas.
His supervisor wrote things like, “Hiring managers love you” and, “Your energy and positivity are a perfect fit for our HR team.”
“I loved going to work everyday and I feel like they stole that from me,” he said.
He says right before he was fired, there was a leadership change at the office.
Thompson explains that, at the time, he was in the middle of filling out ADA Accommodation paperwork so he could bring Han to work, and he says the new boss disagreed with how he was going about that process.
“The day that I was supposed to start bringing him in, I was fired,” said Thompson. “That’s where I feel like the discrimination happened because I couldn’t fathom any other reason and they wouldn’t give me any other reason.”
Thompson’s attorney sent a notice of claim to the city of Buckeye in April, citing wrongful termination. He also filed discrimination claims with the state. After a grueling job search, he did find something new.
“I am super grateful and, you know, it took me six months to find a job. I had put over 700 applications out,” he said.
Now he says he is fighting for clarity on what happened to him and he wants to stand up for others.
“I want to be an advocate for veterans and for disabled veterans and for disabled people to know that us having service animals or a wheelchair or crutches or a cane is us trying to be normal, it’s not us trying to get attention,” said Thompson.
Arizona’s Family reached out to the city of Buckeye to get their side of the story.
They said they can’t comment because “this is an on-going personnel matter.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Thompson and his family make ends meet.
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