Richard C. FOURNIER, Appellant, v. Eric K. SHINSEKI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Appellee.
No. 08-1087.
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Decided June 18, 2010.
23 Vet. App. 480
Argued Jan. 14, 2010.
Congress passed
adopted an amendment to restrict eligibility for all benefits awarded to individuals for having served in the military to those who have completed two or more years of active service except in cases of injury or unusual circumstances beyond the individual‘s control. The committee has previously expressed a serious concern about the high level of attrition, much of which occurs during the first six months of active duty. Current eligibility for benefits at the six month point provides an incentive for attrition and may contribute to the continuing too high levels of attrition of first term personnel.
S.Rep. No. 96-826, at 135 (1980), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 1980, pp. 2612, 2638 (original in all upper case). The committee report makes clear that the purpose of the 24-month minimum service requirement was to attempt to reduce attrition among new members of the military.
The Court finds that at least one purpose for which Congress established the 24-month minimum service requirement may have been to reduce attrition. We hold that this provides a rational basis for creating the eligibility requirement. See Talon, 999 F.2d at 517. Encouraging new recruits to remain in the military by withholding benefits to those who choose to leave early is neither patently arbitrary nor irrational. See Saunders, 4 Vet.App. at 325. Thus, the Court finds that
III. CONCLUSION
Upon consideration of the foregoing, the Court AFFIRMS the Board‘s March 20, 2008, decision.
Justin P. Zimmer and Joan E. Moriarty, Deputy Assistant General Counsel; with whom John H. Thompson, Acting General Counsel; and R. Randall Campbell, Assistant General Counsel, were on the brief, all of Washington, D.C., for the appellee.
Before GREENE, Chief Judge, and HAGEL and DAVIS, Judges.
DAVIS, Judge:
U.S. Navy veteran Richard C. Fournier appeals through counsel from a March 4, 2008, Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) decision that denied an effective date earlier than April 17, 1980, for a service-connected mood disorder secondary to a head injury. This appeal is timely, and the Court has jurisdiction to review the Board‘s decision pursuant to
He asserts primarily that the language of an October 1971 claim denial letter from a VA regional office (RO) did not comply with the extant regulations concerning notice of the decision.1 The appellant also argues that VA failed to comply with an M21-1 provision requiring that he be provided with a formal rating decision setting forth the denial of his claim as contained in his 1971 application for benefits for a nervous condition. He contends that the relevant provision of the 1971 version of M21-1 was a substantive provision. He reasons that the allegedly defective notice procedure left his 1971 claim pending and that claim constitutes a basis for an earlier effective date for his service-connected mood disorder.
We conclude, however, that the October 1971 VA letter provided the appellant adequate notification of the denial of his claim, in compliance with the laws in effect at the time. The M21-1 provision does not alter that conclusion. The Court will therefore affirm the Board‘s March 2008 decision.
I. BACKGROUND
The appellant served on active duty from April 1960 to July 1965. In the early part of the appellant‘s service, while walking the streets of Honolulu, he received a blow to the head with a blunt instrument during an assault. Thereafter, in June 1965, he received an honorable discharge for unsuitability based on having an “inadequate personality disorder.” Record (R.) at 1347.
He submitted a claim for VA benefits for a nervous condition in July 1967. The RO denied that claim on the basis that VA diagnosed him as having an immature personality disorder, which is classified, both then and now, as a noncompensable constitutional or developmental condition. See
In late August 1971 the appellant submitted another application, again seeking service connection for a nervous condition. Along with the application, he submitted a copy of the recommendation for separation from service, which referenced the diagnosed personality disorder. In response to the question whether he had received treatment in service, he wrote, “[S]ee record.” R. at 1344.
After receiving the application in September 1971, the RO issued an October 1971 letter that read as follows:
We received your duplicate claim for disability benefits for nervous condition. Our records disclose that we considered your claim for a service connection for a nervous condition and you were informed on January 20, 1969 that this
condition was not a disability, within the meaning of current laws, for which compensation may be paid. Accordingly, we are not able to take any further action with respect to this claimed condition.
R. at 1342. The appellant attempted to reopen this claim again in 1980 and in 1988. The latter attempt eventuated in a grant of service connection in 1997 for a psychiatric disorder claimed as a residual of a closed head injury and antimalarial medication. The Board assigned a 100% disability rating, effective April 17, 1980.
II. CONTENTIONS OF THE PARTIES
A. The Appellant
In the decision here on appeal the Board acknowledged that neither the October 1971 claim denial letter, nor any attachment thereto, furnished any notice of appellate rights. It found, however, that under the regulations in effect in 1971, failure to notify an appellant of appellate rights, including the allotted time to appeal, did not extend the period for filing an appeal. See
Rather, the appellant argues that the October 1971 claim denial letter “was so misleading that it failed to so much as ‘notify’ him of the ‘reason’ for disallowance of his claim.” Appellant‘s Brief at 12. He elaborates that the RO had a duty to read the claim for a “nervous condition” sympathetically, to include potentially compensable psychoneurotic disorders. Citing
In his briefs, the appellant also pointed to a provision of M21-1, which reads, in relevant part, as follows:
a. Initial Compensation Ratings. All disabilities claimed will be given consideration as to service connection and receive a formal (coded) rating decision.
b. Reconsideration By Rating Board. In finally disallowed claims or other final rating decisions, any communication from a claimant or his representative [furnishing] new and material evidence establishing a new factual basis constitutes a claim requiring reconsideration. Unless a specific claim is required, evidence showing entitlement to increased benefits will serve as a claim. If the record contains any information that the veteran believes a condition is related to service or to another service-connected disability, it becomes a claim requiring formal rating and notification of right of appeal in the event of an adverse decision.
M21-1, pt. VI, ¶ 46.02 (1971) (emphasis added). Citing the last sentence of subsection b, the appellant argued that because a sympathetic reading of the 1971 claim indicates that he believed his nervous condition was related to service, VA was bound to issue a formal rating decision.
The appellant‘s counsel conceded at oral argument, however, that the August 1971 claim was a duplicate claim and not a claim for reconsideration. He also conceded that the evidence submitted with and re
Thus, the appellant argues that the outcome in this case is controlled by
B. The Secretary
The Secretary asserts that VA complied with the notice requirements of
The Secretary rejects the appellant‘s argument that VA should have notified him of additional evidence required under
As to the M21-1 provision,3 the Secretary points out that the provision cited by the appellant references chapter 27 of M21-1, which deals with reconsideration of claims based on additional evidence. The provisions of chapter 27 state that claims based on “evidence that is clearly redundant, cumulative, duplicative, or inconsequential” will not be routinely forwarded to adjudicators. M21-1, ¶ 27.02 (1966). Rather, “[w]hen such an application ... is
III. ANALYSIS
The Board‘s determination of the effective date for an award of VA benefits is a finding of fact reviewed by the Court under the “clearly erroneous” standard of review set forth in
In an attempt to achieve an earlier effective date for his award of VA benefits, the appellant contends that his 1971 service-connection claim remained pending until it was finally awarded in 1997. He maintains that the 1971 claim, when read liberally, included a claim for his disability of a mood disorder, which had not been finally adjudicated. A “pending claim” is “[a]n application, formal or informal, which has not been finally adjudicated.”
A. Sufficiency of Notice
The appellant argues that the RO had a duty to read his 1971 application sympathetically to include all potentially compensable psychiatric disorders. He reasons that this duty required the issuance of a notice informing him of the generic types of evidence necessary to achieve service connection for any psychiatric disorder. In essence, he argues that because he did not receive notice consistent with present statutory and regulatory requirements, as interpreted by recent caselaw, his August 1971 claim remained pending.
When a claimant submits a claim, it remains pending until VA issues a decision. See Ingram, 21 Vet.App. at 241. Specifically, the claim remains alive “until there is either a recognition of the substance of the claim in an RO decision from which a claimant could deduce that the claim was adjudicated or an explicit adjudication of a subsequent ‘claim’ for the same disability.” Charles v. Shinseki, 587 F.3d 1318, 1323 (Fed.Cir.2009) (quoting Williams v. Peake, 521 F.3d 1348, 1350 (Fed.Cir.2008)). When VA takes action on the claim, however, “the onus [is on] the claimant to act within the time periods specified by statute and regulation.” Ingram, 21 Vet.App. at 242. When VA denies a claim and the claimant fails to file a Notice of Disagreement within the one-year period following the decision, that decision becomes final.
In the Court‘s view, the October 1971 claim denial letter from the RO clearly complied with the requirements of VA regulations existing at that time. The notice regulation did not require that the RO‘s reason for denying the claim be ultimately correct or thoroughly explained, only that it be included in the notice. See
Based on the contents of the October 1971 claim denial letter, the Court concludes that a reasonable person would not have delayed filing an appeal of that decision. See Williams, 521 F.3d at 1350 (“Final adjudication of a claim ... requires allowance or disallowance by the agency of original jurisdiction coupled with notice to the veteran of the agency‘s decision, with finality of the adjudication occurring one year after the date of the notice of allowance or disallowance.“). In particular, if the appellant contemplated any other type of claim than that which was evident in the application, it was incumbent upon him to so indicate in a Notice of Disagreement or other communication to the RO.
The Court disagrees that the VA‘s duty to read pleadings sympathetically extends as far as the appellant argues. Neither in 1971 nor now has VA ever been obligated to read a claimant‘s mind. It must consider only claims that may be “reasonably encompassed by several factors including: the claimant‘s description of the claim; the symptoms the claimant describes; and the information the claimant submits or that the Secretary obtains in support of the claim.” Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet.App. 1, 5 (2009). Here, along with his September 1971 application, the appellant submitted a copy of his separation-from-service documents, and generally referred to the same record that was before VA in the 1969 decision. Thus, neither the application nor the appended documents included anything suggesting that the breadth of the appellant‘s claim might extend beyond the already denied service-connection claim for a nervous condition that was denied as a personality disorder. He presented no evidence not of record in 1969 that would have required the RO to reconsider that claim or adjudicate any other type of claim.
Instead, he appears to have been asking for a different outcome on the same factual basis that was before the RO at the time of its final decision in 1969, which was prohibited in the absence of a motion for revision on the basis of CUE. See
B. The M21-1 Provision
The M21-1 provision cited in the appellant‘s briefs does not alter the analysis for at least two reasons. First, subsection b of that provision deals with various forms of claims requiring reconsideration, specifically claims presenting new and material evidence and claims for increased rating. As he now acknowledges, howev
Second, even assuming that the M21-1 provision were applicable on the facts of this case, it would neither constitute a substantive provision nor otherwise create an additional enforceable right in the appellant. This Court has explained that “[r]ules fall into two main categories: substantive or interpretive.” Fugere v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 103, 107 (1990). A substantive rule “has the force of law and narrowly limits administrative action.” Id., (citing Carter v. Cleland, 643 F.2d 1, 8 (D.C.Cir.1980) and Guardian Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass‘n v. FSLIC, 589 F.2d 658, 666-67 (D.C.Cir.1978)). More recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) has indicated that when the Agency‘s interpretation of a statute is clear from existing regulations, any discrepancy between M21-1 and the regulations “does not confer any rights” on a claimant. Haas v. Peake, 525 F.3d 1168, 1197 (Fed.Cir.2008).
Over the years, VA has maintained that “[t]he M21-1 is a procedural manual for the use of field personnel and is not intended as a vehicle to notify claimants of their rights.” Fugere, 1 Vet.App. at 106. In Haas, supra, the Federal Circuit cited VA‘s position that M21-1 “is an internal manual used to convey guidance to VA adjudicators. It is not intended to establish substantive rules beyond those contained in statute and regulation.” 525 F.3d at 1196.
Nevertheless, in the course of judicial review, this Court makes its own assessment whether a particular M21-1 provision is substantive or interpretive. “The particular label placed upon [an M21-1 provision] by the [Agency] is not necessarily conclusive, for it is the substance of what the [Agency] has purported to do and has done which is decisive.” Fugere, 1 Vet.App. at 107 (quoting Columbia Broad. Sys., Inc. v. United States, 316 U.S. 407, 416 (1942)).
Thus, in particular instances, the Court has found that M21-1 provisions are substantive and limit the Agency‘s actions. In Fugere, for instance, the Court nullified an attempt to change entitlement to benefits for hearing disability by rescinding an existing manual provision without resort to notice and comment procedures in the Administrative Procedure Act,
Here the Court holds that the M21-1 provision at issue does not establish or alter the criteria for benefits but only illuminates a suggested procedural practice for VA adjudicators. Therefore, the M21-1 provision does not limit Agency action. Our conclusion is reinforced by the fact that existing regulations defined the scope of the required notice of denial. Under these regulations, a reason for the denial
Moreover, to the extent the appellant contends that the Board failed to provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases because it did not address the M21-1 provision, this argument must fail. For the reasons discussed above, the M21-1 provision does not afford him any legal relief. Therefore, remand for the Board to discuss this provision is not appropriate. See
IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing reasoning, the Court AFFIRMS the Board‘s March 4, 2008, denial of an effective date earlier than April 17, 1980, for the appellant‘s service-connected mood disorder secondary to head injury.