Report: Reservist was due for raise

The reservist's mother wants three people involved to be fired.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- An Army reservist who committed suicide after he lost a promised promotion at the Columbus Health Department was about to get an equivalent promotion and pay raise, according to a report ordered by the mayor.
Mayor Michael B. Coleman ordered the department to give Lt. Brandon Ratliff, 31, a $4,000 raise three days before he shot himself in the head. But neither Ratliff nor his mother, a payroll clerk in the department, knew about it, the 18-page report commissioned by Coleman said.
The report's suggestions for improving treatment of military personnel failed to please Ratliff's mother, Susan Coats. She wanted three people involved to be fired.
"I'm outraged. I'm sitting at home, not able to work, and the people responsible still have their jobs," said Coats, a payroll clerk in the department. "I won't be able to return as long as they're still working."
Job was filled
Ratliff had complained that he was promised a promotion and a raise in September 2002 before he left for Afghanistan, but the job was filled while he was away. When he returned, he was forced to resume his old job, which paid $4,000 less per year than the promotion.
In e-mails to The Columbus Dispatch and his mother hours before he shot himself, Ratliff wrote that he couldn't find a lawyer to take his case.
"I guess the city knows this ... and they have won," he wrote.
Ratliff was not told that Health Commissioner Teresa Long was working on an equivalent promotion at the mayor's orders in March, the report said.
Coleman told his chief of staff, Michael Schwarzwalder, to ensure Ratliff got a promotion. Schwarzwalder said he agreed with the report's recommendation that no one be reprimanded, suspended or fired.
'No one knew'
"Obviously, no one knew there was a need for urgency," he said. "There was no indication of what he was contemplating."
Messages seeking comment were left Saturday at numerous Columbus telephone listings for the three people Coats wanted fired.
Long acknowledged there were problems and that communications broke down.
"The report identifies there was no intentional wrongdoing by anyone at the Health Department," Long said Friday.
The report's recommendations to ensure better treatment of military members included having city personnel officials track employees who are activated in the military, training supervisors on their rights and promoting family support groups.