Coon v. United States

30 Fed. Cl. 531, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 1994 WL 74352
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 11, 1994
DocketNo. 92-126C
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 30 Fed. Cl. 531 (Coon 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
Coon v. United States, 30 Fed. Cl. 531, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 1994 WL 74352 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

REGINALD W. GIBSON, Judge:

This military pay ease is before the United States Court of Federal Claims1 on defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, filed on April 21, 1992, and, alternatively, on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment filed on November 30, 1992, and January 12, 1993. Defendant’s primary motion to dismiss asserts that plaintiffs claims for an increase in disability retirement compensation and retroactive promotion to the rank of major with back pay,2 are barred by the statute of limitations imposed under 28 U.S.C. § 2501.3 For the [533]*533reasons outlined hereinafter, we find that plaintiff has failed to comply with the requirements of § 2501 with respect to each claim. Defendant’s motion to dismiss is, accordingly, granted, and plaintiff’s claims are dismissed as time-barred. Given such, our ruling obviates the need to consider the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment.

Background

Plaintiff entered the U.S. Air Force in 1960. On October 1, 1966, after six years of service, plaintiff developed spondylosis of the spine with related peripheral neuropathy. These back problems became so severe that, on April 12, 1974, they caused plaintiff to retire from military service after approximately 14 years with an approved 40 percent disability retirement compensation rate. Plaintiff’s 40 percent disability rating was recommended by a Physical Evaluation Board (“PEB”) that examined him immediately prior to discharge. The PEB issued a report on March 14, 1974, which found that plaintiff’s back injury was permanent and rendered him unfit for service. In addition to the unfortunate consequences stemming from his physical ailments, plaintiff also fell from the promotion track during his final four years of service. While apparently eligible for consideration for promotion to the rank of major during these years, he remained at the rank of captain until retirement.4

Following his separation from military service in April 1974, plaintiff’s health apparently deteriorated. Thereafter, he sought medical help for certain physical and mental problems in 1975 after his wife began to notice episodes of strange behavior with increasing frequency. As a consequence, plaintiff was eventually admitted to the psychiatric ward of a veterans hospital for a period of a month in 1976, where he received extensive medical attention for his condition. The medical records of his various hospital visits from this period report that plaintiff exhibited acute paranoid behavior, wherein he insisted, for instance, that the Air Force had drugged him with LSD, and that friends and family members were not to be trusted. Also, during this general period, plaintiff sought and obtained a 100 percent medical disability rating from the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) in 1975, and, thereafter, a similar 100 percent disability rating from the Veterans Administration (‘VA”) in 1978.

In view of the foregoing, several years later, on September 23, 1986, plaintiff filed an application for correction of his military records with the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (“AFBCMR”) under the provisions of 10 U.S.C. § 1552. Plaintiff’s first claim with the AFBCMR asserted that his condition, at the time of his 1974 retirement, warranted a 100 percent disability rating rather than the 40 percent rating that he, in fact, was awarded. In his second claim, plaintiff averred that he should be retroactively promoted from captain to major, and, in addition, should receive back pay commensurate with that change in rank. Justification for this position was premised on the fact that his non-selection resulted not from a lack of qualification or suitability, but rather from an acrimonious relationship with a superior officer. In response to plaintiff’s claims, on October 13, 1987, the AFBCMR issued a decision denying plaintiffs request for correction of records on the grounds that his application failed to comply with the three-year statute of limitations pursuant to § 1552(b)5 and Air Force Regulation 31-3.6 [534]*534The board also held that waiving the foregoing statute of limitations in plaintiffs case, while within the board’s discretionary power, would not, on this record, promote the interest of justice.

Less than three months later, on January 4, 1988, plaintiff filed a request for reconsideration of his application for correction of his records with the AFBCMR. The AFBCMR rejected his request on February 3, 1988, stating that plaintiff had presented no new, previously unavailable, evidence that would justify reopening the application. Plaintiff renewed his request for reconsideration on February 17,1988, and was similarly denied. Further requests for reconsideration were also denied by the AFBCMR on August 1, 1990, and December 17, 1990.

The foregoing four requests for reconsideration of the initial October 13, 1987 Board adverse decision occurred during a period (i.e., 1988-1990) in which plaintiff underwent psychiatric treatment at several hospitals. In November of 1988, for example, he was committed to Keesler Air Force Base Hospital for manic behavior; on December 6,1988, plaintiff was committed to Gulfport Division Veterans Hospital for attacking his wife; and in February of 1989, Dr. Linda Cole, Chief of the Mental Health Clinic at Barksdale Air Force Base, began treating plaintiff. Until Dr. Cole diagnosed him with bipolar disorder (manic depression) in 1989, plaintiff claims that he remained completely unaware of the true nature of his mental condition. He also claims that Dr. Cole was the first physician to conclude that he suffered from manic depression during active service, and to suggest that he was misdiagnosed as suffering from hypoglycemia.

Against this background, therefore, plaintiff filed a two-count complaint in this court on February 21, 1992. The first count prays for an increase from 40 percent to 100 percent in his disability compensation rate. And the second count prays for a retroactive promotion from the rank of captain to major and $300,000 in related back pay for the years he would have held the higher rank but for the wrongful denial. In its first response to said petition, on April 12, 1992, defendant, as previously noted, filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, claiming that plaintiff failed to comply with this court’s six-year statute of limitations (28 U.S.C. § 2501). Plaintiff then filed an opposition to defendant’s motion to dismiss on August 5, 1992. Issues raised by the parties’ alternative cross-motions for summary judgment were fully briefed as of January 19, 1993. Approaching the case in this posture, we first turn our attention to defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Discussion

Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction alleges that plaintiff’s claims are untimely pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2501.7 Compliance with the statute of limitations, in this court, is an explicit jurisdictional prerequisite

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Bluebook (online)
30 Fed. Cl. 531, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 50, 1994 WL 74352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coon-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.