A Georgia military spouse is speaking out after sparking a federal investigation.
For years, military spouses like local pharmacist Amy Lewandowski say they were forced to start over every time their family relocated.
But after speaking up, she helped spark a federal investigation that’s now leading to big changes.
Lewandowski has spent more than a decade supporting her family’s military service while also building her own career.
She’s a pharmacist of 14 years and a military spouse for more than a decade.
Most recently, she relocated from Virginia to middle Georgia near Robins Air Force Base.
But when she got here, she said she hit a roadblock.
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Instead of getting to work, she was forced to navigate a complex licensing process just to do the job she was already trained to do.
So, she filed a complaint with the Department of Justice.
“Today, definitely, I think marks an important step for military families because this doesn’t only affect me,” Lewandowski told Channel 2’s Michael Seiden.
Federal investigators say Georgia licensing boards failed to properly recognize out-of-state licenses in violation of federal law, and some military spouses were forced to put their careers on hold or leave the state just to keep working.
“The stress of moving, relocating your entire family to a new location, and trying to maintain your household,” Lewandowski said.
Now, a first-of-its-kind settlement will provide up to $3 million in compensation and require major changes to the system.
“We didn’t have to cajole. We didn’t have to go through and point out why exactly their practices were wrong. They said, ‘You’ve told us about it, we’re going to fix it.’ And they did,” said Theodore Hertzberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Federal prosecutors said up to 5,000 servicemembers and their spouses could be eligible.
“It does kind of restore my faith that if you speak up, things can change for the better,” Lewandowski said.
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