Fired For Military Enlistment And Denied Benefits

Hi all, looking for some guidance and whether I should be talking to an attorney.

I’m in California. I recently enlisted in the military and was in the Delayed Entry Program. The day after I swore in, my employer fired me. Their excuse was unsatisfactory job performance.

Also I had applied for benefits and, they’re telling EDD I was discharged for “unsatisfactory performance” under Section 1256, and EDD denied my unemployment based on that. I just got the Notice of Determination saying I don’t qualify because of “unsatisfactory performance,” and I’m working on my DE 1000M appeal.

I think this is retaliation and not legit performance:

- I had previously filed a complaint with the Department of Labor about them, related to USERRA / my military enlistment.

- There was a “verbal warning” about time-keeping that suddenly turned into a written warning right after I informed them I would be enlisting into the military, even though my performance had been improving with time keeping.

- The timing is very suspicious: I swear in to the military, and literally the next day they terminate me.

- Now they are telling EDD it was “unsatisfactory performance,” which I believe is being used as a cover story for retaliation.

From what I’ve read, in California “unsatisfactory performance” alone is usually not supposed to disqualify someone from unemployment, since that’s different from “misconduct,” but EDD accepted the employer’s version and denied me anyway.

1. Does this fact pattern sound like potential USERRA retaliation / wrongful termination that an employment lawyer would actually take?
2. Can an attorney help me both with the retaliation case and with my EDD situation, since their claim of “unsatisfactory performance” directly caused my UI denial?
3. Is there any kind of minimum damages or typical range in cases like this (lost wages, doubled damages under USERRA, etc.), or is it totally case-by-case?

Jjust trying to figure out if this sounds like something worth pursuing seriously with an employment/USERRA attorney in California, and if so, what kind of lawyer I should be searching for.

Location: California

Thanks in Advance