‘Super disappointing’: Combat veteran says city fired him due to his service dog

Buckeye, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) - An Arizona combat veteran claims he was wrongfully terminated and discriminated against for wanting to bring his service dog to work.

For Zack Thompson, a 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.

According to Thompson, he lives with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder and Han helps him with everything.

Thompson, a husband and father now, was hired in January 2023 by the city of Buckeye.

However, he said he was let go by the city even after glowing performance reviews just before hitting his one-year mark earlier this year.

“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,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, his termination letter cited him unsuccessfully completing his probationary period.

“It 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.

One of Thompson’s recent performance evaluations 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 every day and I feel like they stole that from me,” he said.

Thompson said that 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 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,” he said. “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, Thompson said has since found another job.

“I am super grateful, but it took me six months to find a job. I had put over 700 applications out,” Thompson 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,” Thompson said.

Officials with the city said they couldn’t comment on the situation due to it being an “ongoing personnel matter.”

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help the Thompson family make ends meet.