Bergman v. United States

28 Fed. Cl. 580, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 83, 1993 WL 238855
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 2, 1993
DocketNo. 93-122C
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 28 Fed. Cl. 580 (Bergman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bergman v. United States, 28 Fed. Cl. 580, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 83, 1993 WL 238855 (uscfc 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

NETTESHEIM, Judge.

This case is before the court after argument on defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1). The issue is whether the court has jurisdiction to entertain an Air Force officer’s challenge to his single promotion passover in light of the officer’s resignation pursuant to the Voluntary Separation Incentive program.

FACTS

The following facts derive from the administrative record, unless otherwise indicated.1 On May 15,1980, Michael D. Bergman (“plaintiff”) was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force Reserve. Two years later, on the anniversary of his appointment, plaintiff was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. On January 12, 1984, plaintiff joined the Regular Air Force, and on May 15 was promoted to the rank of captain.

In anticipation of plaintiff’s eligibility for promotion to the rank of major, plaintiff’s superiors initiated the recommendation process in March 1991 in accordance with Air Force Regulation (“AFR”) 36-10 (Aug. 1, 1988). AFR 36-10, entitled “Officer Evaluation System,” requires the senior rater of the officer eligible for promotion to com-píete an Air Force Form 709 Promotion Recommendation Form (“PRF”). AFR 36-10 further requires that the senior rater's recommendation be based on both the senior rater’s assessment of the officer’s record of performance (“ROP”) and any information received from the officer’s superiors concerning recent performance. The senior rater’s recommendation, however, is limited to one of three options: 1) “definitely promote”; 2) “promote”; or 3) “do not promote.” The number of “definitely promote” recommendations is also limited based upon the number of promotion-eligible officers.

Plaintiff alleges that following the requirements of AFR 36-10, his immediate superior, Colonel (“Col.”) Dale Yonker, gave plaintiff a “definitely promote” recommendation, which he forwarded in March 1991 to plaintiff's senior rater, Brigadier General (“Brig. Gen.”) Lester Lyles. Brig. Gen. Lyles then changed the recommendation to “promote” before forwarding the PRF to the Central Selection Board (“CSB”). The latter action forms the basis of the complaint.

Plaintiff contends that on June 7, 1991, he learned from Brig. Gen. (then Col.) Raymond Shulstad, Brig. Gen. Lyles’ assistant, that he had received only a “promote” recommendation on the PRF because he had failed to obtain a master’s degree. Plaintiff also alleges that Brig. Gen. Shulstad informed him that his records had been submitted to the Air Force Systems Command (the “AFSC”) carry-over board, the primary function of which is to designate additional “definitely promote” recommendations and to “specially designate” the top 20 percent of “promote” recommendations before the CSB assembles to make its decisions.

According to plaintiff’s complaint, Brig. Gen. Shulstad's remarks regarding the significance of a master’s degree for promotion directly contradicted previous statements made by plaintiff’s superiors regarding the requirement for such a degree. [582]*582Plaintiff alleges that in 1988 his superiors informed him that AFR 36-10 specifically prohibited a senior rater from considering an officer’s enrollment in or completion of master’s-level work in making a promotion recommendation. To verify this information, plaintiff represented to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (the “AFBCMR”) that in 1988 he scrutinized AFR 36-10 and Form 7092 and thereafter decided to complete his master’s degree in July 1992, one year following the date on which he would be eligible for promotion to the rank of major. Plaintiff claims he remained confident with his degree decision because, in each of his six-month informal job performance evaluations since 1988, his superiors never mentioned that lack of an advanced degree would preclude him from future promotion opportunities. Accordingly, plaintiff takes the position that he reasonably relied on the foregoing in deciding not to complete his master’s degree until the year after which he was eligible for promotion.

On July 8,1991, plaintiff learned that the CSB had not designated him for promotion to the rank of major. The Board made its decision after reviewing and evaluating plaintiff’s selection folder, which contained the PRF with Brig. Gen. Lyles’ recommendation of “promote.” On September 3, 1991, according to the complaint, Major Cynthia Gibbs, an employee in the personnel section of AFSC at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., informed plaintiff that his materials were never sent to the carry-over board. This information contradicted previous statements allegedly made by Brig. Gen. Shulstad in June 1991. Major Gibbs further stated that in her opinion such records should have been forwarded.

Equipped with this newly acquired information, plaintiff confronted Brig. Gen. Lyles, his senior rater, on February 6, 1992, and requested a full explanation. Brig. Gen. Lyles responded that the records were not submitted to the AFSC carry-over board because of plaintiff’s failure to obtain a master’s degree. Thus, plaintiff took the position before the AFBCMR that his lack of an advanced degree prevented him from both receiving the highest promotion recommendation from his senior rater, i.e., “definitely promote,” and having his files sent to the AFSC carry-over board prior to review by the CSB.

Plaintiff met again with Brig. Gen. Lyles on March 4, 1992, to obtain the latter’s signature on an updated memorandum documenting their February 6th meeting. Upon signing the typed memorandum, which stated that plaintiff’s “lack of a Masters Degree was the only weakness in ... [his] records____”, Brig. Gen. Lyles added to the memorandum, in writing, that, in his opinion, although plaintiff’s job performance rated in the top 40 percent of captains, plaintiff’s “records were not as strong as those of the individuals ... [who he had forwarded] to the AFSC carry-over board.” Brig. Gen. Lyles also admitted that he was unaware of any requirement in AFR 36-10 prohibiting consideration of advanced degrees in promotion recommendations.

On February 21, 1992, plaintiff met with Chief Master Sergeant (“CMSgt”) Ronald W. Badour of the Air Force Military Personnel Center (“AFMPC”) to discuss the interrelationship between the Voluntary Separation Incentive (“VSI”) program3 and the appeals process before the AFBCMR. Plaintiff was interested in acquiring such information because he intended to appeal his single promotion passover to the rank of major. CMSgt Badour explained “that [the] AFMPC had recently established a policy ... [whereby] an officer with an appeal pending before the AFBCMR was eligible to apply for the VSI program and that if the officer prevailed ... the VSI [583]*583contract would be voided____” Plf’s Br. filed May 19, 1993, at 4. CMSgt Badour further informed plaintiff that he could not appeal an AFBCMR decision and stated that he “would be ‘stupid’ ... not to apply for the VSI” program in light of the circumstances. Affidavit of Michael D. Bergman, May 18, 1993, at 2.

On February 27, 1992, plaintiff commenced the VSI application process by signing an application form. Plaintiff requested the latest possible separation date of December 31, 1992, to ensure that the AFBCMR had sufficient time to review and evaluate his impending appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
28 Fed. Cl. 580, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 83, 1993 WL 238855, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bergman-v-united-states-uscfc-1993.