In a statement to MySA, a USAA representative declined to comment on the pending litigation by emphasized USAA’s commitment to emotional wellness for its employees. (Credit: frankieleon via Wikimedia Commons)
A veteran from Texas is taking USAA to court with claims the company fired him while he was hospitalized for a mental health episode related to PTSD from his military service.
According to MySA, former USAA employee Edmund Gibbons filed suit in May after he was denied unemployment benefits and was unable to retain his position. By his account, Gibbons was fired from USAA in 2022 after being hospitalized for what he calls a severe mental health emergency. However, his own records reportedly show he missed around five days of work before notifying his employer about his situation, which ultimately led to his termination.
During his unemployment benefits review, the Texas Workforce Commission found that USAA has an employee policy in place that states five “no call, no show” incidents may result in termination.
Gibbons argues in his suit, however, that his termination was in violation of the family and medical leave act (FMLA) and that he was unfairly fired on the basis of job abandonment when he was in the hospital receiving treatment for service-related PTSD.
Gibbons is representing himself in the case, and in his lawsuit he states: “…USAA’s claim that I never filed for accommodations is false. I submitted multiple accommodation requests since 2018 regarding my service-connected disabilities (PTSD, tinnitus, and nerve damage), and two year later received some accommodations through Lincoln Financial (USAA’s contractor for disability benefits). Despite this, USAA failed to accommodate me and ultimately used my October 22 hospitalization to justify wrongful termination, ignoring my ADA protections and violating FMLA and EEOC statues.”
MySA reports that letters filed by Gibbons in the federal Northern District of Texas show that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opted not to continue an investigation into wrongful termination claims he made against USAA in March 2025.
In a statement to MySA, a USAA representative declined to comment on the pending litigation but emphasized USAA’s commitment to emotional wellness for its employees.
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