Aldridge v. McDonald

837 F.3d 1261, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16557, 2016 WL 4709877
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedSeptember 9, 2016
Docket2015-7115
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 837 F.3d 1261 (Aldridge v. McDonald) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aldridge v. McDonald, 837 F.3d 1261, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16557, 2016 WL 4709877 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

Opinions

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge NEWMAN.

SCHALL, Circuit Judge.

Marion Aldridge appeals the final decision of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court”) that dismissed as untimely his appeal from a final decision of the Board of Veterans Appeals (“Board”). Aldridge v. McDonald, 27 Vet.App. 392, 394 (Vet. App. 2015). We affirm.

Background

Mr. Aldridge served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from January of 1984 to May of 1992. On December 24, 2013, the Board denied his claim for a disability rating higher than 10% for his right-knee patellofemoral syndrome and his claim for a disability rating higher than 10% for his left-knee patellofemoral syndrome. J.A. 59-60. The Board informed Mr. Aldridge that, if he wished to challenge its decision, he had 120 days to file a notice of appeal with the Veterans Court. J.A. 69; see also 38 U.S.C. § 7266(a) (providing that a person adversely affected by a final decision of the Board “shall file a notice of appeal with the Court within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed”). Any appeal by Mr. Aldridge thus was required to be filed by April 23,2014.

The Veterans Court received a notice of appeal from Mr. Aldridge on October 27, [1263]*12632014, more than six months after it was due. J.A. 75. After the Secretary filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, the Veterans Court ordered Mr. Aldridge to explain why his appeal should not be dismissed as untimely. Responding to the Veterans Court’s order, Mr. Aldridge acknowledged that his appeal was late under § 7266(a). He stated, however, that deaths in his family and his resulting depressive state had prevented him from timely filing his notice of appeal. Specifically, Mr. Aldridge recounted in an affidavit that his mother died on September 27, 2013; that his daughter gave birth to a stillborn child on December 16, 2013; and that his sister passed away on January 14, 2014. J.A. 34-35. Mr. Aldridge averred that he was “severely depressed for at least nine months” following the death of his mother and that, because of his depressive state and his focus on his family, he did not appreciate that he was required to file a notice of appeal by April 23, 2014. J.A. 37. Stating that it was “around the summer of 2014” that he recovered from his depressive state and was able to consider the need to file his appeal, J.A. 37, he asked the Veterans Court to apply the doctrine of equitable tolling and thereby deem his October 27 notice of appeal timely, see J.A. 31.

The Veterans Court began its consideration of Mr. Aldridge’s request by noting that the Supreme Court has determined that equitable tolling is appropriate when an appellant demonstrates “‘(1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way’ and prevented timely filing.” Aldridge, 27 Vet.App. at 393 (quoting Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 649, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010) (quoting Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 418, 125 S.Ct. 1807, 161 L.Ed.2d 669 (2005))). Focusing on the second prong of the Holland test, the Veterans Court determined that Mr. Aldridge had failed to demonstrate that the deaths of his mother and sister and the stillborn birth of his grandchild “themselves directly or indirectly affected the timely filing of his appeal.” Aldridge, 27 Vet.App. at 393. The court arrived at this determination after noting that Mr. Aldridge stated that, during the period of his depression, he closed the estates of his deceased mother and sister, became his elderly father’s primary caregiver, maintained his job as a desk clerk at a Veterans Affairs hospital, and attempted to hire a law firm to represent him in his appeal. Id. “Given these facts,” the court stated, it was “unconvinced that Mr. Aldridge’s depression rendered him incapable of handling his affairs or otherwise directly or indirectly prevented his appeal from being timely filed.” Id. Having concluded that Mr. Aldridge had failed to demonstrate “facts sufficient to justify equitable tolling,” the court dismissed his appeal. Id. at 393, 394. One judge dissented on the ground that, in his view, the facts presented by Mr. Aldridge justified equitable tolling. Id. at 396 (Greenberg, J., dissenting). Mr. Aldridge has timely appealed from the dismissal of his appeal.

Discussion

Our ability to review a decision of the Veterans Court is limited. Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7292(a), we may review “the validity of a decision of the Court on a rule of law or of any statute or regulation ... or any interpretation thereof (other than a determination as to a factual matter) that was relied on by the Court in making the decision.” We have exclusive jurisdiction “to review and decide any challenge to the validity of any statute or regulation or any interpretation thereof brought under [38 U.S.C. § 7292], and to interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, to the extent presented and necessary to a decision.” 38 U.S.C. § 7292(c). However, ex[1264]*1264cept to the extent that an appeal presents a constitutional issue, we “may not review (A) a challenge to a factual determination, or (B) a challenge to a law or regulation as applied to the facts of a particular case.” Id. § 7292(d)(2).

I.

Mr. Aldridge makes three arguments on appeal. First, he contends that, in denying him equitable tolling, the Veterans Court applied a legal standard that is inconsistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Holland. See Appellant Opening Br. 17-18. Second, he argues that application of the correct legal standard to what he characterizes as “the undisputed facts” of the case establishes that he is entitled to equitable tolling. See id. at 18-19. And third, he urges that, even if the Veterans Court did not apply an incorrect legal standard, it still erred as a matter of law when it determined that no “extraordinary circumstance stood in his way” so as to prevent timely filing of his notice of appeal. Id. at 19-20. Specifically, Mr. Al-dridge argues that the court necessarily took an incorrectly narrow view of what constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance” when it determined that, because he was able to address certain matters in his life when he claimed he was in a depressive state, an “extraordinary circumstance” did not exist. Id. According to Mr. Aldridge, “[n]othing in the case law forecloses the possibility that [his] circumstances qualify as a basis for equitable tolling, even if he was not fully incapacitated by his grief.” Id. at 41.

We have jurisdiction to consider Mr. Aldridge’s first argument—that the Veterans Court applied a legal standard that is inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent—because it represents a challenge to the Veterans Court’s interpretation of a rule of law; namely, the rule as to what must be shown to establish equitable tolling. We do not reach Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
837 F.3d 1261, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16557, 2016 WL 4709877, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aldridge-v-mcdonald-cafc-2016.