*1 N OTE : This disposition is nonprecedential. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________ WASHINGTON G. RUFFIN, JR., Claimant-Appellant v.

DAVID J. SHULKIN, SECRETARY OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee ______________________ 2016-2401 ______________________ Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No. 14-3370, Judge Mary J. Schoelen.

______________________ JUDGMENT ______________________ L YNN K. N EUNER , Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP, New York, NY, argued for claimant-appellant.

D OUGLAS G LENN E DELSCHICK , Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, argued for respondent-appellee.

Also represented by C HAD A. R EADLER , R OBERT E.

K IRSCHMAN , J R ., M ARTIN F. H OCKEY , J R .; B RIAN D.

G RIFFIN , D EREK S CADDEN , Office of General Counsel, *2 United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washing- ton, DC.

______________________ T HIS C AUSE having been heard and considered, it is O RDERED and A DJUDGED :

P ER C URIAM (N EWMAN , C LEVENGER , and C HEN , Circuit Judges ).

AFFIRMED. See Fed. Cir. R. 36. E NTERED BY O RDER OF THE C OURT October 13, 2017 /s/ Peter R. Marksteiner Date Peter R. Marksteiner

Clerk of Court