Davidson

219 Ct. Cl. 666, 1979 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 82, 1979 WL 29180
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMarch 9, 1979
DocketNo. 518-77
StatusPublished

This text of 219 Ct. Cl. 666 (Davidson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davidson, 219 Ct. Cl. 666, 1979 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 82, 1979 WL 29180 (cc 1979).

Opinion

[667]*667This case comes before the court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Defendant contends that plaintiffs complaint for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and mandamus is outside the jurisdiction of this court and, as there are no material facts in dispute, defendant is entitled, as a matter of law, to a judgment dismissing the petition. Because we find in plaintiffs petition an implicit claim for money, we choose not to grant defendant’s motion immediately.

Plaintiff, then a major, Army of the United States, was involuntarily released from active duty, effective June 29, 1973, pursuant to the Army’s reduction-in-force program. As a result of unfavorable findings during his separation physical examination, commenced on January 10, 1973, plaintiffs case was referred to a medical board at the U.S. Army Hospital, Bremerhaven, Germany. The medical board found plaintiff to be medically unfit for further active duty and recommended that his case be reviewed by a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB). Plaintiff was thereupon reassigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Walter Reed), where a second medical board determined on May 24, 1973, by an addendum to the proceedings of the first medical board, that plaintiff was fit for active duty. Plaintiff appealed that determination contending that the findings of the second medical board were improper in that they were not based on all the evidence. He further contended that he was entitled to a hearing before the PEB. Plaintiffs case was, on June 2, 1973, referred to the Central Physical Evaluation Board at Walter Reed. The board returned the case without action on June 11, 1973, the date plaintiff was originally to have been separated from active service.

On June 14, 1973, plaintiff filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia a complaint against the Secretary of Defense for a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and mandamus and a petition for a temporary restraining order to prohibit plaintiffs release from active duty. The court granted the temporary restraining order. On June 29, 1973, the district court denied plaintiffs petition for a preliminary injunction, staying all further proceedings pending plaintiffs exhaustion of his administrative remedies through applica[668]*668tion to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR). The temporary restraining order having been dissolved, plaintiff was released from active duty on June 29, 1973.

Plaintiff thereupon applied to the ABCMR requesting (1) recall to active duty until completion of pending administrative and judicial procedures; (2) an evaluation before a Physical Evaluation Board; (3) that he be retired by reason of physical disability rated at least 30 percent; and (4) reimbursement for loss of salary and emoluments for the period of his release from active duty. On March 19, 1975, the ABCMR denied plaintiffs application. Plaintiff, on June 3, 1975, by leave of the district court, there filed an "Amended Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, Injunc-tive Relief, and Mandamus” requesting the court to declare illegal the refusals of the Secretary of Defense and the ABCMR to grant plaintiff a hearing before a PEB and to grant him a disability discharge of at least 30 percent. He also requested an injunction directing the Secretary to grant him a 30-percent disability discharge and his full pay and allowances from the date of his separation from active service until his final receipt of the disability discharge.

On April 30, 1976, the district court found plaintiffs case to be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1970) and ordered that the case be transferred to this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(c) (1970). The transfer was accomplished on October 17, 1977.

On November 14, 1977, plaintiff filed a petition in this court entitled "Amended Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, Injunctive Relief, and Mandamus.” An examination of this petition and the case file transferred from the district court reveals that plaintiffs November 14, 1977, petition is a retyped copy of his June 3, 1975, amended complaint in the district court. Only the caption, named defendant, and docket number have been changed, presumably to comply with Rule 181(b). Thus the complaint states that the suit is one for equitable relief against the Secretary of Defense; the basic jurisdictional statute cited is 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (1970), which provides for general federal question jurisdiction in a United States district court.

[669]*669In response to plaintiffs "Amended Complaint,” defendant has filed a motion for summary judgment, in essence asking the court to dismiss plaintiffs petition because it "is nothing more than an action in equity seeking a declaratory judgment that Kenneth J. Davidson is medically disabled.” As such, defendant contends, it is outside the jurisdiction of this court under United States v. King, 395 U.S. 1 (1969). We disagree.

It is, of course, undeniable that this court has jurisdiction only over claims for money judgments. 28 U.S.C. § 1491. However, as an incident to a claim for a money judgment, this court does have the power to give certain equitable relief, such as placement in retirement status or correction of applicable records. Id. Thus, where a plaintiff can show that an administrative refusal to correct his records has caused him pecuniary injury and the correction would entitle plaintiff to money damages, this court can order the correction. Michienzi v. United States, 207 Ct. Cl. 484 (1975).

Defendant would contend that plaintiff has made no claim here for a money judgment. Technically, this is true. However, plaintiff is seeking review of the action of the ABCMR denying him a disability discharge of at least 30 percent claiming that the board action was arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by substantial evidence. Should plaintiff win on the merits of his claim,1 he would be entitled to a money judgment representing his disability retirement pay from the date of separation from active duty to the present. Since plaintiff would be entitled to a money judgment should he win on the merits, there is a money claim implicit in his complaint.2

The basic problem in this case is not that plaintiffs case is outside our jurisdiction, but that plaintiff has filed an entirely inappropriate and faulty petition for relief in this [670]*670court. Defendant is quite right that, as presently framed, plaintiffs claim is technically outside our jurisdiction. However, we do not believe that the appropriate course of action is to dismiss plaintiffs petition. In two recent cases where this court found that the petition failed to make an explicit demand for money, but where a monetary claim was implicit, we did not dismiss the petition, but gave plaintiff the opportunity to amend. Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Inc. v. United States, 215 Ct. Cl. 1031 (1978); Warrior Constructors, Inc. v. United States, 211 Ct. Cl. 350 (1976).

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Related

United States v. King
395 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Friedman v. United States
310 F.2d 381 (Court of Claims, 1962)
Hertzog v. United States
167 Ct. Cl. 377 (Court of Claims, 1964)
Michienzi v. United States
207 Ct. Cl. 484 (Court of Claims, 1975)
Frye v. United States
210 Ct. Cl. 325 (Court of Claims, 1976)
Warrior Constructors, Inc.
211 Ct. Cl. 350 (Court of Claims, 1976)
Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Inc.
215 Ct. Cl. 1031 (Court of Claims, 1978)
Lipp v. United States
373 U.S. 932 (Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
219 Ct. Cl. 666, 1979 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 82, 1979 WL 29180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davidson-cc-1979.