WATERTOWN, MA. July 16, 2010. The Tufts Health Plan is a large medical provider here in Massachusetts. Today, one of their supervisors received a Patriot Award and the company was honored with the highly regarded Above and Beyond Award. Employee David M. Owens is also serving as a First Lieutenant (1LT) in the US Army Reserve. 1LT Owens nominated his supervisor, Linda Turner, for the Patriot Award. He then went on to nominate Tufts Health Plan for The Above and Beyond Award.  

In his nominations, Mr. Owens wrote: "Tufts Health Plan has signed a SOS and has a posted military leave policy that provides full continuation of benefits, differential pay initiative and a flexible leave policy that allows employees military leave or vacation choices to attend UTAs and AT. Ms. Turner has shown great flexibility in my ever changing training schedule. Her understanding and support relieves me of a substantial burden of having to worry about how to incorporate the high ops-tempo training that my unit has been engaged in since my deployment training began last year."  

Senior Vice President for Human Resources and General Counsel, Ms. Lois Cornell, herself a "Boss-lift" veteran, stated how pleased she was to accept the Above and Beyond Award on behalf of Tufts Health. Ms. Cornell is certainly well aware of the mission of ESGR and the great things that are accomplished for the troops and employers alike.  

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense agency established in 1972. The mission of ESGR is to gain and maintain employer support for Guard and Reserve service by recognizing outstanding support, increasing awareness of the USERRA law of 1994 and resolving conflicts through mediation. The MA Field Office has more than 40 volunteers dedicated to helping every "Citizen Soldier". On hand representing MAESGR were South Eastern MA Area Chair and Senior Ombudsman Joachim-Ingo "Ski" Borowski and Program Support Specialist David St. Germain.   

 

 

   Left to Right:  Dave St. Germain, 1Lt. David Owens,  Linda Turner, and J. I. “Ski” Borowski.

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Left to Right: 1Lt. David Owens,  Lois Cornell and J. I. “Ski” Borowski _______________________________________________________________________________ 

If you would like nominate your Employer for an award, call the MA Committee for ESGR at 508-233-7249 or go to www.esgr.mil.