Shelkofsky v. United States

534 F. App'x 983
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedOctober 11, 2013
Docket2013-5083
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 534 F. App'x 983 (Shelkofsky v. United States) 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
Shelkofsky v. United States, 534 F. App'x 983 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff Morris Shelkofsky appeals the decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“Claims Court”) granting the Government’s motion for judgment on the administrative record. In granting the motion, the Claims Court found that the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records’ (“AFBCMR”) decision to deny Shelkofsky’s requests for age-based retirement pay based on a previous final decision and his explicit waiver was neither arbitrary, capricious, contrary to law, nor unsupported by substantial evidence. Shelkofsky v. United States, 110 Fed.Cl. 15, 18 (2013).

For the reasons below, we affirm the judgment of the Claims Court.

BACKGROUND

Shelkofsky is a former judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve. In 1997, he was involved in a car accident that left him with substantial injuries. As a result, he was removed from active duty and placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List (“TDRL”) on May 27, 1998. In a letter dated June 12, 2000, the Air Force informed Shelkofsky that it was removing him from the TDRL because he did not qualify for transfer to the Permanent Disability Retired List (“PDRL”) and could not continue on the TDRL due to his recently decreased 20 percent disability rating.

When he was discharged, the Air Force provided him with two options: disability severance pay or inactive reserve status. If Shelkofsky had elected inactive reserve status, he would have been eligible for reserve retirement pay at sixty years of age. Instead, Shelkofsky elected disability severance pay and signed a form that stated “I elect to be discharged with severance pay as provided under Section 1203, Chapter 61, Title 10 USC. I understand that I forfeit all right to receive retired pay under Chapter 1223, 10 USC, at age 60.” Appellant Appendix A45-46. In a letter dated July 10, 2000, the Air Force stated that it would remove Shelkofsky from the TDRL and discharge him with entitlement to disability severance pay as of July 30, 2000.

Shelkofsky, however, never received the disability severance pay he elected. By an administrative error, the Air Force transferred him from the TDRL to the PDRL. Since his disability rating at retirement was only 20 percent, he should not have been transferred to the PDRL, which requires a rating of at least 30 percent. The Administrative Record did not contain an explanation for his transfer to the PDRL. He continued to receive disability retirement payments for more than seven years.

In 2008, after reaching the age of 60, Shelkofsky filed for a correction of his military records at the AFBCMR asking for placement on the inactive status list. If listed, he would be eligible to collect reserve retirement pay. In his request, he explained that he never received severance pay, but did not mention at the time, that he had been collecting disability retirement pay instead. After verifying that Shelkofsky never received severance pay, the AFBCMR granted the request to correct his records to allow him to move to the inactive status list in 2008.

While attempting to implement the AFBCMR’s decision, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (“DFAS”) realized Shelkofsky’s erroneous inclusion on the PDRL when it attempted to move him to the inactive reserve list. The DFAS informed Shelkofsky that he was already listed on the PDRL, and that compliance with the AFBCMR decision would require *985 him to pay back the disability retired pay he received for the previous seven years.

In response, Shelkofsky asked the AFBCMR to withdraw its approval of his request to correct his records to move to the inactive status list, explaining his desire not to incur such a debt. The AFBCMR agreed to void its earlier decision. In 2009, the DFAS then stopped sending disability retirement payments after determining Shelkofsky had never been eligible for the PDRL.

Shelkofsky then asked for reinstatement of the recently voided AFBCMR order to again obtain age-based reserve retired pay, or in the alternative, for an adjustment to his assigned disability percentage so that he would be eligible to stay on the permanent disability retired list. The AFBCMR denied his request, finding that the previous decision to withdraw its prior approval was final and conclusive, unless obtained by fraud. Shelkofsky then asked for reconsideration of his request for placement on the PDRL based on a more recent disability rating of 60 percent awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The AFBCMR denied his request, finding he submitted no evidence to show that his medical condition warranted permanent disability retirement at the time of his removal from the TDRL, when he had only a 20 percent disability rating.

In November 2011, Shelkofsky filed a complaint in the Claims Court asserting claims only for reserve retirement pay and back reserve retirement pay. Complaint at 1-3, Shelkofsky v. United States, No. 11-0765 (Fed.Cl. Nov. 14, 2011), ECF No. I. 1 In a March 20, 2013 decision, the Claims Court ordered judgment on the administrative record in favor of the United States finding that the AFBCMR’s decision to deny retirement pay was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law. Shelkofsky, 110 Fed.Cl. at 18. In reaching this conclusion, the Claims Court, concluding both that the AFBCMR had found its decision voiding the original decision “final and conclusive on all officers of the government, unless obtained by fraud,” and that Shelkofsky had waived his right to age-based retirement pay when he elected to be discharged with severance pay. Id. The Claims Court also noted that “the pay that plaintiff chose at the time of his separation is not a subject of this appeal.” Id.

Shelkofsky appeals that ruling to this Court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3).

Disoussion

I. Standard of Review

As a judgment on the administrative record by the Claims Court is a legal determination, we review the judgment de novo. Roth v. United States, 378 F.3d 1371, 1381 (Fed.Cir.2004). This Court may disturb the decision of the Board only if it was “arbitrary, capricious, contrary to law, or unsupported by substantial evidence.” Id.

II. Waiver of Retirement Pay

A member of a military reserve component is entitled, upon application, to retired pay if he: (1) has attained the applicable eligibility age; (2) has performed at least 20 years of service; and (3) is not entitled, under any other provision of law, to retired pay from an armed force. See 10 U.S.C. § 12731(a). Here, the applicable eligibility age is 60 years. Id. § 12731(f)(1). In the proceedings below, *986 the Government did not dispute that Shel-kofsky meets all of these criteria. Shelkofsky, 110 Fed.Cl. at 17.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shelkofsky v. United States
119 Fed. Cl. 133 (Federal Claims, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
534 F. App'x 983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shelkofsky-v-united-states-cafc-2013.