VETERANS (VA) BENEFITS LAW
Blue: EAJA, prevailing party status
/Blue v. Wilkie, 30 Vet.App. 61 (May 16, 2018)
HELD: To determine “prevailing party” status where agency error is not explicitly found in the merits decision or conceded by the Secretary, the Court will look to “the substantive discussion in the merits decision, the relief awarded, and whether the caselaw cited in the merits decision would allow such relief in the absence of agency error.”
SUMMARY: CAVC issued a memorandum decision that remanded the veteran’s appeal for additional development and readjudication – specifically directing the Board to obtain VA medical records. In its decision, the Court stated that it found “no error” in the Board’s failure to obtain these records because the veteran had not provided VA with the dates of treatment.
The appellant’s attorney filed an EAJA application and the Secretary challenged it, arguing that he was not a “prevailing party” since the Court expressly found “no error” in the Board’s decision.
The Court first discussed the relevant case law and outlined a three-part test, from Dover v. McDonald, 818 F.3d 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2016), to determine “prevailing party” status for EAJA purposes: “(1) the remand was necessitated by or predicated upon administrative error, (2) the remanding court did not retain jurisdiction, and (3) the language of the remand order clearly called for further agency proceedings, which leaves the possibility of attaining a favorable merits determination.” The only issue here was whether the remand was based on administrative error.
The Court noted that error can be explicit or implicit – and it could be found by the Court or conceded by the Secretary. In this case, the Court expressly found “no error” and the Secretary did not concede error – so the Court looked at “the context of the remand order itself to determine whether the remand was implicitly predicated on agency error.” The Court determined that Mr. Blue was a prevailing party based on “the substantive discussion in the merits decision, the relief awarded, and whether the caselaw cited in the merits decision would allow such relief in the absence of agency error.” The Court determined that the cases cited in the merits decision would not allow for remand in the absence of agency error – and thus concluded that, “under the unique circumstances presented by this case,” the appellant demonstrated that the remand “must have been implicitly predicated on ‘actual or perceived’ agency error.” The Court found the appellant was a prevailing party in this matter.
O'Brien: Dependency, Legal Guardianship
/O’Brien v. Wilkie, 16-2651 (May 4, 2018)
HELD: Legal guardianship does not satisfy VA’s definition of “child” for dependency purposes.
SUMMARY: Veteran sought dependency benefits for his grandson. The veteran was the grandson’s legal guardian, but had not formally adopted him. VA denied dependency benefits for the grandson since he did not meet VA’s definition of a dependent child. Veteran appealed to the Court, arguing that the Court should rely on the “plain meaning” of the word “dependent” – and that because his grandson is “actually dependent” on the veteran, he should be included as a dependent for VA benefits purposes.
The Court disagreed, finding that while the relevant statute and regulation do not define “dependent,” the structure of the statute (38 U.S.C. § 1115) makes it clear that Congress intended to limit “dependents” to “spouses, children, and dependent parents.” The Court also found that Congress expressly limited the definition of “child” to a minor “who is a legitimate child, a legally adopted child, [or] a stepchild who is a member of the veteran’s household,” citing 38 U.S.C. § 101(4)(A).
Burris: Education benefits, equitable relief
/Burris v. Wilkie, 888 F.3d 1352 (May 2, 2018)
HELD: The CAVC lacks the authority to grant substantive (i.e., monetary) equitable relief.
SUMMARY: In this consolidated case, the sons of two veterans were denied equitable relief for extension of education benefits and reimbursement of education-related expenses. In both cases, the Board held that it did not have the “authority to grant additional benefits on an equitable basis.” The CAVC affirmed the Board’s decisions in both cases, holding that only the Secretary can grant equitable relief in certain circumstances and that the CAVC itself lacked authority to grant such relief.
On appeal to the Federal Circuit, the appellants argued that the CAVC wrongly determined that it lacked jurisdiction to grant equitable relief. The Federal Circuit disagreed, noting that the relevant statute regarding equitable relief, 38 U.S.C. § 503, only allows the Secretary to provide such relief – not the Court. The Federal Circuit further found that the CAVC’s inherent equitable powers do not allow it to grant the equitable relief sought by the appellants in these cases – namely, monetary relief. The Court acknowledged that the CAVC does have the “authority to grant certain forms of non-substantive equitable relief,” such as the authority to certify classes, issue judgment nunc pro tunc, and consider equitable defenses. However, the Court found that those forms of relief were either based on other statutes or were procedural – and were not the same as the monetary relief sought in the present cases. The Court thus held that the CAVC correctly affirmed the Board’s decisions – and correctly determined that it lacked authority to grant this type of equitable relief.
