Arellano Equitable Tolling Argument at Supreme Court Fails

[Tbird]

In veterans’ benefits case, court says Congress chose a firm rule over a flexible standard

In its first opinion of the 2022-23 term, the Supreme Court unanimously held on Monday that a one-year timeframe for military veterans to apply for retroactive disability benefits is a firm deadline that cannot be extended under a doctrine known as “equitable tolling.” The court found equitable tolling would be inconsistent with Congress’ intent for setting effective dates for veterans’ benefits.

For background, Adolfo Arellano was discharged from the United States Navy in 1981. As a result of his service, he suffered from a severe mental health condition that for many years left him unable to understand his eligibility for disability benefits. In 2011, 30 years after his military service, he applied for benefits, and the Department of Veterans Affairs granted him benefits, effective on the date the agency received his claim. Arellano appealed the effective date, arguing that he should receive retroactive benefits dating back to when he was discharged from the military.

Quote

Equitable tolling allows courts, or, an agency, to excuse missed deadlines in some circumstances. To obtain equitable tolling, a person must show that they were unable to pursue a claim due to extraordinary circumstances that prevented them from filing in time

https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/01/in-veterans-benefits-case-court-says-congress-chose-a-firm-rule-over-a-flexible-standard/

 

[broncovet]

This is not good for Vets.  What it means:

If you dispute your decision, make sure you appeal it in the applicable time frames.

1 year. VARO decisions

120 days BVA decisions.  

[shrekthetank1]

that is rough

[Tbird]

"We hold that §5110(b)(1) is not subject to equitable tolling and affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals. It is so ordered."

Read the full order here 21-432-supreme-court-arellano-v-mcdonough-equitable-tolling.pdf

[Vync]

Oof...

[ArNG11]

oouch!! Yeah timelines are key.  It is easy to overlook a deadline even if you don't mean to.  Unfortunately deadlines can and will kill a claim if you are not diligent, especially true when you have multiple in the claims process.

[Vync]

On 1/26/2023 at 5:53 PM, ArNG11 said:

oouch!! Yeah timelines are key.  It is easy to overlook a deadline even if you don't mean to.  Unfortunately deadlines can and will kill a claim if you are not diligent, especially true when you have multiple in the claims process.

You're right about that.

The system needs to be changed to allow veterans to obtain benefits based on when they had symptoms instead of when they requested benefits. This should be retroactive to when they left the service and also factor in any maladies being treated while in the service. That would be a proper application of maximizing benefits, in my unprofessional opinion.

[LehiPolen]

interesting information

Edited February 1 by LehiPolen (see edit history)

[broncovet]

Yes, this (Scotus) decision is in conflict with the ENTIRE premise of the Veterans benefit system, and that is the "benefit of the doubt", "claimant friendly" system, where this service is provided to "serve" Veterans.  

Instead, its meant to enforce unreasonable deadlines (for Veterans), but does "nothing" to address the real problem, which is not Veterans waiting 365 days and one second to appeal, but rather, that there is no such deadlines on VA to process our claims promptly.  

VA has "an excuse" to delay our claims, sometimes for multiple multiple DECADES, where Veterans have to "pay" for these delays, which are no fault of the Veteran, but rather a poorly managed (at best) or corrupt (at worst) benefit claim system.  

We need deadlines for VA...to complete our claims, not enforcement of "arbitrary and capricious" deadlines for Veterans.  

There is "no magic" of the first anniversary of the claimants decision denial, "except" for VA taking full advantage of the passing of this year to deny the Veteran a second time, at the Veterans expense.  There is no celebration, "yea, its been exactly one year since I have been denied"...let's get the birthday candles and cut the cake "honoring" a VA's claim denial.  There is nothing "honorable" about the VA denying the Veteran, and, sometimes through no fault of the Veteran, he lets this one year deadline pass, giving the VA an "undeserved" pass on often poor decisions.  

It reminds me of a murderer "getting off" because the statue of limitations expired.  (I UNDERSTAND there is no statue of limitations on murder).  

A poor VA decision 367 days after the VA made it, is still a poor decision..its just that the defenseless Veteran has drastically fewer remedies, completely benefiting the VA, at the Veterans expense.  

[Rattler]

So this is the one I have been waiting for

The VA decided after 43 years I was insane at the time of my discharge in 1977.

They did not diagnosis me with PTSD until July of 2021.

PTSD was not in the DMSO 5 until 1980.

The VA 1st awarded me 100% going back to August 2021.

The VA QUE its self an awarded back pay to August 2017.

So I should file for “equitable tolling.” Because the VA said I had the problem at discharge in 1977. A problem that did not have diagnosis until 1980. 

This happened through no fault of my own.

I have not read the decision yet. You can bet I will. (This is exactly what I expected out of this court)

 

[whatshisname]

2 hours ago, Rattler767 said:

So this is the one I have been waiting for

The VA decided after 43 years I was insane at the time of my discharge in 1977.

They did not diagnosis me with PTSD until July of 2021.

PTSD was not in the DMSO 5 until 1980.

The VA 1st awarded me 100% going back to August 2021.

The VA QUE its self an awarded back pay to August 2017.

So I should file for “equitable tolling.” Because the VA said I had the problem at discharge in 1977. A problem that did not have diagnosis until 1980. 

This happened through no fault of my own.

I have not read the decision yet. You can bet I will. (This is exactly what I expected out of this court)

 

 

I could see a real good argument if the Army let you out for any behavioral or competency reasons.  That would establish the condition 'as of' date on paper, right?

 

[Rattler]

They couldn't put it on paper because PTSD did not exist in 1977.  There were other medical issues that got ignored also.

The point is the VA diagnosed it back to then so its kind of hard for them to deny   it. If you search  “equitable tolling.”      at the BVA you get 1,683 results.  It's some interesting reading. I thought the Arellano v McDonough case didn't quite make the mark for a good equitable tolling claim. 

 

https://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=bvadecisions&sort_by=&query=“equitable+tolling”

 

[Vync]

On 1/31/2023 at 12:02 PM, broncovet said:

...

We need deadlines for VA...to complete our claims, not enforcement of "arbitrary and capricious" deadlines for Veterans.  

There is "no magic" of the first anniversary of the claimants decision denial, "except" for VA taking full advantage of the passing of this year to deny the Veteran a second time, at the Veterans expense.  There is no celebration, "yea, its been exactly one year since I have been denied"...let's get the birthday candles and cut the cake "honoring" a VA's claim denial.  There is nothing "honorable" about the VA denying the Veteran, and, sometimes through no fault of the Veteran, he lets this one year deadline pass, giving the VA an "undeserved" pass on often poor decisions.  

It reminds me of a murderer "getting off" because the statue of limitations expired.  (I UNDERSTAND there is no statue of limitations on murder).  

A poor VA decision 367 days after the VA made it, is still a poor decision..its just that the defenseless Veteran has drastically fewer remedies, completely benefiting the VA, at the Veterans expense.  

Absolutely correct.

Going through this while helping my father who served a year in Vietnam and now has hypothyroidism and a slew of other illnesses. He submitted his intent to file a couple of years ago and thought he sent the evidence and claim form. Turns out his memory loss resulted in him completely forgetting to send it. Last year, I learned of this and helped him redo his claim for. He sent it off this time, but forgot to sign it. The VA sent it back. He is still within the one year "claim" window. I got with my mother and they are sending it off. I asked them to give me the tracking number so I can ensure the VA actually received it. Of course, many of his issues began to develop many years ago and he didn't think they were related because they manifested after he retired from service.

Situations like this likely need to be resolved by Congress. The Supreme Court has to interpret the language of the law. I realize the Arrelano case failed to factor in benefit of the doubt, non-adversarial, and pro-veteran, but the way the laws were originally written were designed to benefit the VA by protecting their budget. If every vet was granted retroactive effective dates back to when the illnesses manifested, that would be a hell of a lot of a bite out of their budget. It should not matter when the claim or appeal forms were submitted. The only pro-veteran answer would be for lawmakers to remove the deadlines which are clearly anti-veteran. It needs to be made fully retroactive to when vets left the service in the name of justice and restoring the VA back to it's original charter of being pro-veteran. Who cares if it generates a larger backlog or requires more budget? If not for the vets, the VA would not exist...

[Rattler]

Achily I have been thinking that our first ling of defense should be to send congress in to fight and then send in the real solders to clean up the mess. It would take care of two problems. It would be interesting to see how many  go AWOL.

[Melanie15]

Sounds Interesting!! Cola Social Security

Edited April 19 by Melanie15 (see edit history)