On December 29, 2015, the Wall Street Journal published an article that the “U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [Fed. Cir.] is considering whether that [inability to bring a class-action lawsuit] to allow class actions in the veterans’ court.” The article can be accessed at Wall Street Journal Article.
Although not specifically cited in the article, the appeal before the Fed. Cir. involves the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC)’s denial of a request for aggregate relief/class action in Monk v. McDonald. The Yale Veterans Clinic are counsel that filed the petition under the All Writs Act on behalf of Mr. Monk, a Vietnam veteran who was denied benefits due to a characterization of service issue. Interestingly, I believe in the ensuing six months the Board for Corrections of Naval Records (BCNR) has upgraded Mr. Monk’s discharge and the Department of Veterans Affairs has granted Title 38 benefits.
My prior blog contains link to the original petition, the CAVC order, and the CAVC denial which can be accessed below:
http://blog.finkrosnerershow-levenberg.com/va-benefits-news/petition-for-class-actionaggregate-relief-denied-in-monk-v-mcdonald-by-cavc/