(AP) — A National Guardsman from southwest Missouri is suing Stone County because his job was given to someone else while he was deployed.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Ryan Joy says when he was deployed in May 2012, he was a mechanic working as shop manager for the Stone County. When he returned in 2013, the county told him he would no longer be the manager. He was given a lesser position and eventually left because of what he calls a hostile workplace.

Joy says he contacted the Department of Labor, which told county officials that they were violating a federal law by not reinstating Joy to his previous position.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the county filed court documents denying many of Joy’s claims.