Veterans Disability Lawsuits - Why You Need a Lawyer Who is Accredited to Handle Veterans Disability Lawsuits

Veterans with disabilities are often targeted by lawyers who make use of their benefits as a cash cow. You need an attorney that is certified to deal with VA claims.

A Connecticut veteran who suffered from schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health disorders linked to a fatal aircraft carrier crash has won an important victory. However, it comes at an expense.

Class Action Settlement

The Department of Veterans Affairs has systematically discriminated against Black veterans by denying disability compensation claims at a higher rate than white veterans, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Conley Monk is a 74-year-old Marine Corps veteran from the Vietnam War who filed the lawsuit. According to documents obtained by Monk as well as the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic and Monk claims that the VA denied his disability claim at a greater rate than white veterans during the past three decades.

Monk, an a retired psychiatric nurse says that the discrimination by the VA has caused him and other black veterans to suffer in ways that have affected their health, home work, education and employment. He wants the VA to pay him back the benefits it has not provided him, and to alter their policies on race and discharge status as well as denial rates.

Last year, Monk and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic obtained 20 years of VA disability compensation claim data by way of Freedom of Information Act requests which they filed on behalf of the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress and the Black Veterans Project. The data showed that Black Veterans were statistically less likely to be granted the right to claim disability benefits than white veterans between 2001 and 2020. The average denial rate for veterans of color was 6.3 percent higher than white veterans.

Discrimination basing it on PTSD

According to a lawsuit filed Monday the Veterans Affairs Department denies disability benefits to Black veterans. The suit was filed by a former Marine Corps veteran who was denied housing as well as education benefits for years, even having been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The suit points to evidence that VA officials have historically disproportionately denied claims submitted by Black veterans.

Conley Monk volunteered to serve in the Marines during the Vietnam War, driving a bullet-riddled transport vehicle as well as helping to move troops and equipment to combat zones. He was eventually involved in two fights that he blamed on his PTSD. In 1971, he received a discharge that was not an honorable. That "bad paper" did not allow him to get the home loan, tuition assistance and other benefits.

He sued the military to overturn the discharge, and was awarded a range of benefits in 2015 and 2020. He claims that the VA has a debt for the past denials of disability benefits. He also suffered emotional harm from reliving some of his most painful memories through each application and re-application, the suit says.

The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages and asks the court to orally order the VA to look into systems-wide PTSD bias. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by groups like the ACLU and Service Women's Action Network, to force the VA into addressing long-standing discrimination against survivors of sexual assault.

Alimony Discrimination

People who have served in the military or accompanied those who served in the military, need to know the truth about the benefits for veterans with disabilities and their influence on divorce money issues. One of the biggest myths is that veterans may have their VA compensation seized in order to pay alimony or child support orders in state courts. This is simply not true. Congress has carefully designed Title 38 of the U.S. Code to shield the payment of veterans against claims from family members and creditors with the exception of alimony and child support.

Conley Monk volunteered to serve his country. He spent two years in Vietnam driving bullet-ridden transport vehicles, transferring equipment and troops out of conflict zones. He was awarded numerous medals for his work, but he was later awarded a less than honorable discharge after he was involved in two fights caused by undiagnosed PTSD. It was a long and long, and winding path for him to get the VA to accept disability compensation.

He was denied benefits at a more frequent rate than his white counterparts. According to the lawsuit filed in his behalf by the National Veterans Council for Legal Redress at Yale Law School and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, this racial discrimination was systemic and widespread. The lawsuit claims that the VA knew about and failed to deal with decades of discrimination against Black veterans disability law firm. It seeks justice for Monk and other veterans.

Appeals

The VA Board of Veterans Appeals examines claims for benefits if the claimant is dissatisfied with a decision made by the agency. If you're considering appealing an agency decision, it's essential to do so as soon as you can. A lawyer with experience in appeals to veterans' disability cases can assist you in ensuring that your appeal meets all the requirements and it is heard in a fair manner.

A licensed lawyer can examine the evidence used to support your claim and submit new and additional evidence should it be required. The lawyer will also be aware of the difficulties of dealing with the VA and could result in a greater degree of empathy for your circumstance. This can be a significant benefit to your appeals.

One of the main reasons a veteran's disability claim is denied is because the agency hasn't properly defined their condition. A skilled attorney can make sure that your condition is correctly classified and rated, allowing you to obtain the benefits you need. A qualified attorney will be able to collaborate with medical professionals to provide additional proof of your situation. A medical expert, for example, may be able to demonstrate that the pain you are experiencing is due to your service-related injury, and is debilitating. They might also be able to help you obtain the medical records that are needed to support your claim.