Randy Benavides Balderas v. Atascosa County Texas

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
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United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
December 1, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-50197
RANDY BENAVIDES BALDERAS
Plaintiff - Appellee-Cross-Appellant
v.
ATASCOSA COUNTY TEXAS; ATASCOSA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT;
TOMMY WILLIAMS, Sheriff, Individually and in his official
capacity as Sheriff for Atascosa County
Defendants - Appellants-Cross-Appellees
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
No. A:01-CV-668-RP
Before KING, Chief Judge, and JOLLY and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
The district court’s conclusions that the employment of
plaintiff Randy Balderas was terminated by defendant Sheriff
Tommy Williams and that Balderas’s obligation to perform service
in a uniformed service was a motivating factor in that
termination are not clearly erroneous. Further, the district

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court did not err in finding that Balderas adequately mitigated
damages. Finally, the district court did not err in concluding
that the defendants failure to comply with the provisions of the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of
1994, 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq., was not willful. Although the
defendants took the tack that Balderas was not terminated, the
record reflects that reasons in addition to his service in a
uniformed service entered into the decision to terminate
Balderas, and the district court could properly take those
reasons into consideration when deciding whether the defendants
acted willfully. The defendants other arguments on appeal are
meritless.
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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