Williams v. United States

100 Fed. Cl. 263, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1731, 2011 WL 3627268
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedAugust 16, 2011
DocketNo. 10-724C
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 100 Fed. Cl. 263 (Williams 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
Williams v. United States, 100 Fed. Cl. 263, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1731, 2011 WL 3627268 (uscfc 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

FIRESTONE, Judge.

This ease involves a dispute over the discharge of, and disability rating conferred upon, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. Currently pending before the court are the defendant’s March 15, 2011 Motion to Dismiss, or in the alternative, for Judgment upon the Administrative Record, and the plaintiffs May 3, 2011 Cross-Motion for Judgment upon the Administrative Record. The plaintiff, Paul L. Williams, served on active duty between January 1985 and June 1994. After a brief stint in the Army Reserve, Mr. Williams in January 1996 joined the Army National Guard Unit in Utah. The Utah National Guard relieved Mr. Williams of his duty in February 2002, but he soon thereafter joined the Army Inactive Reserve. In January 2005, Mr. Williams was mobilized to serve in Landstuhl, Germany in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom. There, Mr. Williams experienced symptoms of severe depression. After evaluations by one Medical Evaluation Board (“MEB”) and three Physical Evaluation Boards (“PEBs”), Mr. Williams was permanently retired from the Army in April 2010 with a thirty percent disability rating. He now seeks review of that rating, alleging errors committed by the three informal PEBs convened between June 2006 and March 2010 to assess his condition and payment of any wrongfully denied disability pay. Mr. Williams further claims that he was wrongfully separated from the armed forces and seeks back pay for any period of wrongful discharge.

The government has moved to dismiss Mr. Williams’ wrongful discharge claim under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) on the grounds that the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over the claim. Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 9 (“Def.’s Mot.”). The government has moved to dismiss the remainder of Mr. Williams’ claims pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6) on the grounds that Mr. Williams has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. The court converted this motion to a motion for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 12(d) on June 28, 2011. The government has moved in the alternative for judgment upon the administrative record (“AR”). Mr. Williams also seeks judgment on the administrative record. Pl.’s Resp. & Mot. for J., ECF No. 15 (“Pl.’s Resp. & Mot.”). For the reasons set forth below, the court finds that Mr. Williams waived his right to challenge his disability rating and military discharge when he concurred with the PEBs’ findings and recommendations. Accordingly, the government’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED, and the plaintiffs cross-motion for judgment on the record is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

A. History of Mr. Williams’ Military Service and Retirement1

Mr. Williams served as a Chaplain on active duty in the United States Army between January 1985 and June 1994. AR 19. In the late 1980s, while stationed in Japan, he experienced “depressive symptoms,” such as “tearfulness, lack of motivation, and unreasonable excessive fear.” AR 20 (internal quotation marks omitted). Mr. Williams’ symptoms affected his job performance, and in 1993, after being passed over for a promotion, he sought treatment from a military psychiatrist. Id. Mr. Williams was diagnosed with “major depression, probably recurrent,” and began to take anti-depressant drugs. Id. In June 1994 he “had a mandatory separation because he was passed over [again] for Major.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

Mr. Williams joined the Army Reserve in July 1994. AR 19. While in the Army Reserve, Mr. Williams apparently applied for and “received a [Department of Veterans [266]*266Affairs (“VA”) ] disability of 10% for depression.” AR 20. The record reflects that sometime “around the year 2000” his VA disability rating was increased to fifty percent. AR 07, 23. When Mr. Williams’ stint in the Army Reserve ended in 1995 he became “more depressed,” increasing his psychotherapy treatment and antidepressant dosages. AR 20. Mr. Williams moved from Texas to Utah at the end of 1995, and there joined the Army National Guard in January 1996. Id. During this period Mr. Williams briefly worked in the private sector as a teacher. Id. He claims he was “forced to quit” in late 1997 after an incident in which Mr. Williams alleges that he was “ ‘unjustly accused of saying inappropriate things in class.’” Id. Mr. Williams was able to find other private sector employment. Id.

In February 2002 Mr. Williams was relieved of his Utah National Guard duty. Id. Mr. Williams reports that a superior officer felt he was “ ‘ineffective with Soldiers, and the Soldiers didn’t like [him].’ ” AR 19. Mr. Williams states that he was “ ‘basically fired.’ ” AR 20. At about this time the military initiated an evaluation of Mr. Williams’ medical condition. AR 20. Mr. Williams’ unit “ ‘sat on [his] paperwork,’ ” however, and before the evaluation could proceed, Mr. Williams was in January 2003 unexpectedly offered a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel by the Army Inactive Reserve. AR 20-21. Mr. Williams accepted the promotion and joined a Drilling Reserve Unit stationed in Utah. AR 21. He states that he informed the unit about his mental health history, but that “ ‘they wanted [him] anyway.’ ” Id. In January 2005, Mr. Williams was mobilized for active duty in Landstuhl, Germany in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom. AR 01.

Despite his hope that his depression would not interfere with his service in Germany, AR 21, Mr. Williams experienced serious distress throughout his deployment, AR 07-08, 21. He clashed with a supervisor and with at least one coworker, and his depressive symptoms increased. AR 21. On March 25, 2005, Mr. Williams was “in a state of severe distress” following a conflict with his roommate and sought treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. AR 07. There Mr. Williams “reported severe anxiety, anergia, social isolation, anhedonia, recurrent crying spells, profound dysphoria and a marked sense of worthlessness and helplessness.” AR 07. In September 2005, in response to Mr. Williams’ continuing depressive symptoms and pursuant to Army Regulation 635-40, Dr. Walid Nassif, Mr. Williams’ treating physician, initiated a MEB.2 AR 21.

Dr. Nassif conducted the first of three MEB evaluations of Mr. Williams on December 19, 2005. AR 07. Dr. Nassif found that Mr. Williams suffered from “a severely disabling combination of dysthymia and recurrent major depression that has been treatment-resistant and requiring very high levels of care.” AR 09. In the portion of the narrative summary concerning Mr. Williams’ “Cognitive Mental Status,” Dr. Nassif further reported:

[Cognitive Mental Status] appears normal upon testing. Notably, short and long-term memory, concentration, attention, orientation, calculations, abstractions, organization and planning were intact. However during periods of high stress or dysphona it was clear from his report and from coworkers’ account that his attention, concentration, short-term memory, organization and planning in the real world were markedly reduced.

AR 08. In the portion of the narrative summary marked “Patient Interview,” Dr. Nassif noted that Mr. Williams was:

well-groomed and sustains good eye contact. His speech is of normal rate and volume, somewhat monotone. Mood is frequently dysphone and anxious. Affect is generally constricted, frequent tearfulness and intense distress are manifested. [267]

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Bluebook (online)
100 Fed. Cl. 263, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1731, 2011 WL 3627268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-united-states-uscfc-2011.