THE LAWSUIT
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In a letter delivered to Secretary Shinseki, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) raised concern about a growing epidemic among America's veteran community. More than 600,000 men and women, who served this nation honorably, often with great personal sacrifice, have been forced to endure excessive delays in receiving the disability benefits they have earned due to a service-connected disability. Disability benefits are not only an entitlement – but an essential lifeline - for many veterans, and the failure to provide them in a timely way has had terrible consequences. Sadly, this backlog will only increase as more of the 1.7 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan become eligible for benefits.
In his confirmation hearings Secretary Shinseki expressed a desire to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs to a 21st Century Organization that is people-centric, results-driven, and forward-looking. Additionally, General Shinseki pointed out the need to "streamline the disability claims system, increase quality, timeliness and consistency of claims processing."
Documenting the wide-reaching impacts of disability benefit delays, the VVA and VMW's letter summarizes the tragic consequences of the VA's failure to treat America's disabled veterans with dignity. These consequences extend beyond the individual veteran to spouses, children, and other family members who suffer from the stress and economic burden caused by the failure to award their veteran husbands, wives, parents, sons and daughters the benefits that they need to survive.
Lawsuit Timeline
- On November 10, 2008, the VVA and VMW filed their Complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia requesting a preliminary injunction to provide immediate action to prevent further irreparable harm to our nation's veterans.
- On December 4, 2008, the U.S. Government filed its response to the VVA and VMW lawsuit and sought outright dismissal of the lawsuit. The Government's response was aimed at evading rather than embracing its legal responsibilities and does not contest that the VA takes many, many months, and often years, to reach decisions that have critical consequences for our nation's disabled veterans. Instead, it launched a barrage of legal arguments, many already rejected by numerous courts, about why the VA should not be held accountable. The VA's claims about the adverse consequences of a court order that forces it to do its job rang particularly hollow, given the agency's repeated admissions that it has all the resources it needs to do its job – Congress gave the VA a larger budget than it asked for during the past few years.
Most alarmingly, the Government argued that the public interest supports the denial, rather than grant, of the injunction that the plaintiffs seek. It claims that Congress, after careful balancing, has determined that the VA's (broken) system is simply the one with which disabled veterans must live, and that it should not be held accountable for its failures. - Stay Tuned: No date for the argument on the Government's motion to dismiss the case has been set. While the Courts are understandably reluctant to second guess Congress on what is a "reasonable" time for the VA to decide benefit claims, at some point everyone agrees that benefits delayed are virtually the same as benefits denied.
VVA and VMW Response to Government Filing
On December 11, 2008, the VVA and VMW filed their combined opposition to the VA's motion to dismiss its complaint and reply in further support of its motion for a preliminary injunction. Such injunction would order the VA to adjudicate initial claims for disability benefits in 90 days and noticed appeals of those decisions within 180 days, and require equitable relief in the form of monetary payments equivalent to those paid to a veteran with a 30% disability rating (roughly $356 per month for a veteran without dependents) to any veteran whose claim is not adjudicated within that timeframe.
Government Response
The U.S. Government filed its response to the VVA and VMW lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on December 4, 2008.
The Government seeks outright dismissal of the lawsuit, and in any event opposes the immediate injunctive relief that the lawsuit seeks -- an order that requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to adjudicate initial disability claims in 90 days, appeals in 180 days.
VVA & VMW Complaint
The suit filed by the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and Veterans of Modern Warfare (VMW) seeks 90-day decisions on initial claims for disability benefits, and a 180-day period to resolve appeals. If the VA cannot meet these standards, the VVA and VMW are asking for equitable relief in the form of monetary payments, which will provide veterans with a lifeline of support when it is most needed to allow reintegration into society.
The VA by its own admission takes an average of at least 6 months to reach an initial decision on an average benefit claim and the actual delay is believed to be much longer, probably closer to a year. Appeals of these initial decisions, which are reversed approximately 50% of the time, on average take more than 4 years, with some stretching 10 years or more.
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