The federal government plans to fight a proposed class action lawsuit filed by a member of the Canadian Forces hit with significant financial losses when the military reposted him.

The legal action was started by Master Warrant Officer Neil Dodsworth who has spent 33 years in the Canadian Forces serving in Somalia, Afghanistan and earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

In 2007, Dodsworth was posted to CFB Edmonton.

Unable to find a spot in military housing or afford Edmonton's soaring home prices, he and his family bought a condo row house in Morinville, a town about 35 kilometres outside the city.

He ended up losing more than $72,000 selling that home when he was posted to CDSB Gagetown in New Brunswick.

Dodsworth said he battled for four years for compensation beyond an initial $15,000 offered by the military, submitting documentation showing the Morinville housing market had collapsed by up to 30 per cent.

He went through adjudication, the military grievance board, an ombudsman and appealed directly to the minister of defence.

When that failed, Dodsworth filed the lawsuit in September.

Soldiers thought they would be covered under a federal government program that compensates members of the Canadian Forces who sell in so-called depressed housing markets.

Government has refused to pay

So far the federal government has refused to pay and has asked a federal court judge to strike down the proposed class action lawsuit.

Dodsworth's lawyer Dan Wallace says it’s a tactic that will only drag out the legal process.

"It's further disappointing that they've taken the position that officer Dodsworth doesn't even have a right to bring this action," he said.

Wallace says he can't understand the federal government's position, especially since Ottawa already lost a case earlier this year involving another soldier who sued on the same grounds.

In its court motion, the federal government says soldiers can instead launch a grievance through proper channels and argues the lawsuit is little more than an attack on government policy.

Wallace says soldiers have been told they can't launch a grievance through the Canadian Forces and all they want is for the federal government to correctly apply its own program.

"This is a question of fairness for these Canadian Forces members," he said. "They don't want anything other than what they were promised when they signed up."

A federal government spokesperson told CBC News today it would be inappropriate to comment on a case before the courts.

Wallace says the motion by the federal government will likely be heard in February or March.