A New Hampshire soldier has been awarded $445,000 for being demoted and then fired after he returned from Iraq.

Sgt. Stephen Fryer of Jaffrey is a member of a Massachusetts National Guard unit based in Gardner.

He sued A.S.A.P Fire and Safety Corp., of Tyngsborough last winter. Fryer claimed that when he returned from an Iraq deployment in May 2008 the company refused to rehire him.

He was eventually rehired, but he was demoted. He says he was fired when he asked for his old job back.

Fryer says the lawsuit was for all members of the armed services and their families.

A.S.A.P. owner Joseph Sheedy told the New Hampshire Union Leader he will appeal. Sheedy says Fryer was fired because he didn't show up for work.